The Outsider
by SimplyDust
Summary: A new student comes to Beacon, he has no team, his intentions are unknown, and he is unaware of things as simple as 'What are Grimm'. Follow Team RWBY and their strange new companion on an adventure to hunt down a threat that could destroy the world... (Rated M for violence and language, as well as references to adult themes.)
1. Chapter 1

_One life is all we have_

 _And we live it as we believe in living it._

 _But to sacrifice what you are_

 _And to live without belief,_

 _That is a fate more terrible than death._

 _-Joan of Arc_

* * *

Ruby walked casually through the halls of Beacon. She wanted to find Weiss; who bet the day before that her partner couldn't get to Vale and back in two minutes. Ruby was confident she was going to get that twenty-five Lien. She approached an intersection and decided to go left; but she stopped when she heard voices coming from around the corner.

"Ozpin!" Someone shouted, it was a boy who sounded like he was in his late teens. Ruby didn't dare look however; as she didn't want to risk them seeing her.

"Yes? And who are you." Ozpin replied, Ruby understood that Ozpin knew most of the students' names by heart, so it was safe to assume the boy did not go to Beacon.

"My name is Simon, and I was wondering if you knew this girl." Ruby heard the crinkle of paper, then a questioning grunt from Ozpin.

"Yes I do, she goes to this school." He told the boy.

"Finally!" The boy sighed with relief. "Thanks Ozpin that's all I needed to know." Ruby heard the boy's heavy footsteps before Headmaster spoke up.

"And may I ask why you are looking for her." Ruby heard the boy stop.

"Questions for later." He replied before continuing on his way.

Ruby waited until she heard Ozpin start walking before she turned the corner.

"Ah, Ruby." He greeted.

"Hello Sir." She replied, deciding not to bring up the boy's question, "Do you know where Weiss is?"

"I believe I saw Ms. Schnee in the mess hall." He answered, coaxing a sigh of frustration from Ruby.

"I was just there!" She whined before running off, but the bet could wait; she needed to tell everyone what she just heard.

* * *

"I think this is none of our business." Blake said without looking up from her book.

"Well _I_ think that you are no fun." Yang commented, earning a short grunt and a page turn from the Faunus.

"I say we get to the bottom of this!" Nora said after devouring her third helping of pancakes. "After all he may a spy from one of the other schoolsheretoobserveourstrongestwarriorssothey-"

"Nora," Ren interrupted, stopping her breathless rant. "I don't think he's a spy."

"That's exactly what he wants you to think." She said before skipping away, most likely to get another helping of pancakes.

"Even if he was a spy here to observe our strongest warriors- like Nora said- who? He was looking for a girl so who would it be?" Weiss asked, bringing everyone to thought.

"Perhaps it's Pyrrha." Ruby suggested, only to be shot down by Weiss.

"She's participated in a lot of tournaments; if they wanted to know about her they could just watch those." She corrected.

"What about you guys?" Jaune said to them. "I mean you're pretty strong."

"Then again he was only looking for one girl." Pyrrha said.

"Maybe it's you Jaune!" Yang laughed.

"Very funny." He replied, crossing his arms. The group laughed together. However; Ruby noticed Ren was deep in thought, so she decided to speak up.

"What about you Ren?" She asked. "Who do you think it is?"

"Honestly," He said, looking up at her. "You Ruby." She was surprised but he continued. "You skipped two years, wield one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed, and despite your age you still ended up as the leader of one of the top first-year teams."

They all thought about it for a minute, but their thoughts were interrupted when the first bell rang. They stood and proceeded to their respective classes, but all the while; Ruby was still thinking.

 _Why me?_

* * *

He dangled his feet over the cliff as he watched the sunset. The sky was painted many shades of pink and red, and stars had begun appearing on the horizon. He watched as the birds flew home to their nests, while the houses and shops below him snuffed out their lights. He watched Beacon in the distance; its tall spires piercing the sky, its magnificent structures giving the entire view a very homely feel. He reminisced in is younger days; when he would hope to be part of something as great and beautiful as the castle that watched over his home town.

He laughed at the thought.

When would he get to see those walls that he once called home; he hoped it would be soon. He also hoped that when he walked through those gates; someone would be there with him. Side by side.

And hand in hand.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello, Dust here. I just wanted to say thanks for taking time out of your day to view my work. Although this is my first Fic, I intend to make a story that will hopefully keep you interested. Criticism is welcome (constructive criticism hopefully) and hell, if you have any ideas for the story, by all means tell me, I'm up for suggestions.**

 **Anyway, back to another** _ **Outsider…**_

An Intriguing Gift

Ruby had won her bet with Weiss, albeit by only a second but, she had gotten her Lien; which she intended to use to buy cookies from her favorite bakery on the edge of town. Not many people knew about it so it was never really busy. _More for me!_ She thought.

She walked through the door of _The Hunter's Bakery_ , and saw the chef standing behind the counter attempting to solve the same crossword puzzle he had been working on for the past month.

"Mornin' Ruubs." The man said, she was his most frequent customer, and thus, his most favorite. "The usual?" He asked and she nodded. He went into the back as Ruby looked at his crossword puzzle.

"There's a young gentleman looking for you Ruubs." The chef said. Her eyes widened.

"Do you know who?" She asked, but the man shook his head.

"Nah, he came in two days ago with your picture looking for you."

"What did you tell him?" She was curious now, what would anybody want with her.

"I told the boy that you were a student at Beacon. Then he handed me this," he reached below the counter and pulled out an envelope, "told me to give it to you then ran off." He gave Ruby the item, before hurrying back to the kitchen as a buzzer went off.

Ruby stared at the package, her name was written neatly on the front of it. A very strange font, but neat nonetheless. She decided to wait until she back in her dorm to open it.

Her fingers felt a soft bump on the back and she turned it over. There was a seal on the envelope, made from blood-red wax and stamped with a flower. The flower looked much like a rose but it was different somehow.

 _What would anybody want with me?_ She thought.

"You mean other than the fact that you're incredibly adorable?" The chef replied with a sly smirk, as he brought out a bag of cookies. Ruby blushed, part at his comment, part at the fact that she didn't realize she was speaking aloud.

"Twenty chocolate-chip cookies, with the discount of being the first customer today…" The chef said to himself as he counted the prices on a small calculator taped to the table. "Twenty Lien."

 _What am I going to do with the other five?_ She thought as she handed over the money. Taking the bag off the counter, she gave a quick glance at his crossword puzzle.

"Thirteen down is night vision by the way." She said as she walked out the door. As she walked back to her dorm she would take bites out of a cookie every now and then whilst thinking.

 _Why does he want to find me... you know, other than the fact I am utterly adorable?_ She blushed at the thought, before starting a mindless hum the rest of the way back.


	3. Chapter 3

A Single Intention

Ruby quickly walked through the halls of Beacon; she needed to get to her dorm so she could read her letter in peace. When she got to her dorm however, she realized it was going to be anything but.

Blake was reading a book but Yang and Weiss were in a heated discussion over whether or not Yang's new sleep attire was appropriate. Which it wasn't, I mean unless you call a bra and underwear proper clothing-which she was wearing at the moment, making it very difficult for Weiss to maintain eye contact.

Ruby carefully walked over to her bed trying not to draw attention to herself, but it was not to last. As Ruby climbed into her bunk and began opening the letter, Yang immediately snatched it out her hands.

"And what's this little sis? A love letter perhaps?" She said with a sly tone. Looking at the letter she noticed the seal, which had been slightly broken. "Weiss does this look familiar to you?" She asked, handing the letter to Weiss. She immediately looked shocked.

"Where did you get this?" Weiss asked, getting a bit too close to Ruby for her liking.

"Uhm-"

"Where?!" Weiss shouted. Ruby quickly told the group her story.

"Why are you freaking out about this?" Ruby asked.

"Because this is a royal stamp," Weiss explained. "It is most commonly used to indicate urgency, a war declaration, or…" her voice trailed off.

"Ooorr?" Yang prodded. Weiss sighed then looked into Ruby's eyes.

"Or sometimes even courtship." She said in a stern voice.

"Well. Let's hope it's one of the first two." Yang said cheerfully. Weiss handed the envelope back to Ruby, who looked at it for a second before breaking the seal.

She carefully read the contents:

 _My Dear Ruby Rose,_

 _I understand you may have many questions, but they will be answered later. I am writing this to say, I need you, for many more reasons than one. Most of which, I am not at liberty to say; others, you may not want to hear. But know this,_

 _I am NOT your enemy._

 _You may think of me what you will, but I will always be on your side; whichever it may be._

 _If you have questions, I will answer them the best I can. Come to Sunset Hill on the outskirts of Vale, I will be waiting. Come alone._

 _Sincerely,_

 _The Outsider_

She read the letter out loud to her group.

"The Outsider?" Weiss said.

"Have you heard of him?" Ruby asked.

"Of course not you dolt, why would I?"

"Well you did say it was a _royal_ stamp. You're the expert here on that, not us." Yang said.

"I think we should have a chat with this guy." Weiss said.

"He said to come alone." Ruby replied.

"We'll just hide in the bushes or something."

"That is a bad idea." Blake said. "If this Outsider is as smart as he sounds, he probably wouldn't show himself unless he knew they were alone."

"She makes a good point." Ruby said.

"Wait a second." Yang said poking her finger into Ruby's shoulder. "Normally you would come up with a bunch of crazy ideas for us all to come. Why are you submitting so easily?" She said with a questioning glance.

Ruby mumbled.

"What?" Weiss said.

"Because I kinda want to go by myself." When Yang raised her eyebrows she continued. "I can handle it; trust me on this one okay?"

Yang's shoulders relaxed as she let out a soft sigh.

"Fine." She said. Ruby was about to hug her before she continued. "BUT, if you're not back by midnight… I'm kicking some ass." She said with a grin.

The group laughed and joked a bit afterwards, but Ruby couldn't wait for her first encounter with this… _"Outsider"_


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys, Dust here. Sorry I'm late on the upload but I've been busy lately. So, to make up for it I've decided to post two chapters today, hope you're happy.**

 **Anyway, back to another** _ **Outsider…**_

Something's Not Right

Ruby was disappointed. She would have to wait to meet the Outsider, as her team had been assigned a mission out of nowhere.

 _I know you are on break, but something's come up in the plains East of Vale. I need your team on this one._

Ozpin's words rang through her head. She looked over at her team. Yang was on her scroll, but Ruby kept catching Blake and Weiss giving her strange looks.

"Hey!" Yang's voice caught her attention. "Is _you know who_ coming?" She said gesturing to her left hand.

Ruby looked at her own left hand, what she saw surprised her. There, on her ring finger, was a wedding ring. A red rose sat on top of it, how she knew it was a wedding ring she had no idea, she just had this…feeling.

"No?" Yang asked. Ruby looked at her and shrugged. Yang smiled and rolled her eyes.

A minute later the ship had reached their destination. Her team departed and the ship lifted off.

Then things went black.

When Ruby came to, she was crouching over Yang's body. She was covered in blood, her throat had been torn out and her right arm was missing.

"YANG!" Ruby shouted, she didn't know what happened, but something definitely wasn't right.

"It's about time she died." The voice startled Ruby and she turned. Only to see Weiss and Blake walking towards her.

"What?" She asked.

"We had been waiting for her to die. We had just about given up." Blake said. Ruby was, needless to say, shocked.

"We needed her dead." Weiss said "To get to you."

Ruby was… stunned, breathless, terrified.

"You think you're better than us?" Weiss said. "Skipping two years, becoming team leader; you're not better than us!" She shouted the last part.

Ruby was confused; she didn't think that, she'd never think that.

"And now that we know your husband isn't going to show up, we're going to prove you aren't better." Blake said.

"By killing you." Weiss finished, as she spun the cylinder on her weapon. She readied herself, then sped towards Ruby; who was too scared, too confused, too… hateful, to move.

 _Please,_ Ruby thought, _if there are any Gods out there, listening. Please._

 _Help Me._

Weiss was almost upon her now, Ruby knew she was going to die, but out of the corner of her eye she saw it, a black figure. It stepped between her and Weiss, taking the blow. The heat from the explosion washed over Ruby, causing her to fall back onto Yang's body.

"Ruby!" She looked at the corpse under her, and saw the most terrifying thing she would ever see. Yang's eyes were open now, and her lips were moving. She was trying to tell her something, to tell her…

 _Wake Up._

Ruby burst upright from her bed, pulling her sister into a hug as soon as she saw her.

"Shh, it's okay. Let it out." Ruby wept into her sister's shoulder as Yang tried to calm her.

"Are you okay?" The terrifyingly familiar voice caused her to open her eyes. She saw Weiss wearing a concerned face in front of her. Ruby pushed her way out of her sister's arms and pressed her back against the wall.

It took Ruby a second to realize that what she just saw was a dream. But that didn't stop it from being the worst experience of her life, and if Weiss were to ever point her blade at her again, even if it were to spar, it would kill her.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys, Dust here. As promised another chapter. Sorry it took so long, but here it is.**

 **Anyway, back to another** _ **Outsider…**_

Meeting At Last

Ruby lengthened her stride; she wanted to get to Sunset Hill as soon as possible. She was still shaken from what had happened the night before, but she was excited to finally meet the _Outsider_. Ruby wondered why he had chosen that name, but while she was deep in thought she bumped into something.

"Oh, sorry about that."She said cheerfully to the large man in front of her. The man quickly looked around before grabbing her hands and pulling her into the closest ally way.

 _Seriously!_ She thought. _First the dream and now this?_ She tried to fight back, but she wasn't the strongest girl. She couldn't get her weapon either. The man's smile faded when he followed her eyes to her waist.

"You won't be needing this." He said with a laugh grabbing her weapon and throwing it towards the entrance. It landed and slid to the feet of a person neither of them saw.

With a laugh the man reached down towards her waist, Ruby struggled as much as she could, but before his hand touched her a knife pierced his left arm, releasing Ruby's hands. She quickly rushed over to her weapon but stopped when she saw a person standing in the entrance way. The girl picked up the Crescent Rose and handed it to Ruby.

"You should hurry to Sunset Hill." She said. "He's waiting for you. I'll deal with this scum."

Ruby didn't even think about it, she ran to the outskirts of town, only stopping to breathe at the gate to Sunset. Looking up the path she wondered how the girl knew, or if this was worth all the trouble. But she was here now so she had to keep going.

When Ruby reached the top of Sunset Hill she realized why it was given its name. It gave a perfect view of the sun setting over the ocean, and of all of the colors in the sky. The hill dropped off about thirty feet out into a steep drop, and standing at the edge, with the toes of his black combat boots hanging off the edge, was the Outsider.

Or at least he looked like it. He wore a black trench coat with loose black pants and the previously mentioned black boots.

 _Talk about shady…_ Ruby thought. She noticed a design on the back of his coat; it was the same as the stamp on the letter and was made of a dark red fabric. She also saw now his coat had a large vertical slit coming from the bottom of the tail to just below the waist. Each flap moved separately in the wind. He had black un-kept short hair, which blew softly in the wind.

It was obvious that the man was concentrated on the sunset, so Ruby crept up quietly on him.

"If you were going to be sneaky, you should've started before you got to the top of the stairs." He said turning. His voice sounded young, and he looked it too. He had a very juvenile face. And his eyes… his eyes were… just looking into them made Ruby want to obey his every command. They were white with black outlines, and they _glistened_ , they moved, they changed. It was like looking into a box full of insects, each piece moving past the other, and constantly changing directions. But despite how they moved, they were always white with a black outline. She could've looked into them forever, but he turned away.

"Sorry about that." He said, rubbing his eyes. When he returned to her they no longer moved, just simply white and black.

"What was…?" Ruby started, but he raised his hand.

"Questions for later. I'm Simon" He said putting forth his hand palm upward. At this point Ruby realized it was the guy from the other day. She chuckled placing her hand into his.

"Sorry, but that day you went to Ozpin looking for me. I was around the corner." She explained.

"I know." He returned with a smile.

"Then why didn't you talk to me there."

"And miss this view?" He gestured to the sunset.

She chuckled. _I like him already._ She thought. She was going to ask another question but he stopped her.

"Look." He pointed to the sky.

"What is it?" She asked, not seeing anything.

"Wait for it…" He replied in a quiet tone.

And there, were he was pointing, a shooting star lit up, trailing across the entire sky before dying out on the other end of the horizon.

"How did you know?" Ruby asked. But he didn't answer he just, stared; with half closed eyes and a short smile. After a minute of silence Ruby simply joined him. They sat together for Gods know how long, pointing out shooting stars when they saw them.

 _Not what I was expecting, not at all_.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello, Dust here. I have redone this chapter, due to realizing I probably shouldn't write when I'm tired.**

 **Anyway, back to another** _ **Outsider…**_

A New Student

Ruby checked the time on her scroll. Eleven twenty-five.

 _Looks like Yang might have to kick some ass._ She chuckled.

"I heard about what happened today, in the alley." Simon said. "Some people." He huffed.

"That's not the only thing." She realized to late what she said. Maybe he'd…

"No turning back now, Rose. Spill it."

No, no he wouldn't. Ruby sighed.

"I had a dream, a terrible one." She explained.

"Details, sweetheart. Details." He said looking at the moon. Ruby tried her best to ignore the fact the he just said 'sweetheart'.

"My sister died and my team turned against me. That's the gist of it."

"There's more." He said in a calm tone. There was something he wanted her to say, she knew that.

"Um, I was married." She said awkwardly. "The ring was cool so that's a plus."

"What did the ring look like?" He asked.

 _Definitely looking for something._ She thought.

"Like this," She took the rose buckle off her belt and handed it to him. "But red." He grunted in confirmation.

"Did you die?"

"Um… No, now that I think about it. Weiss attacked me but, something got in the way and took the blow." She said.

"I'll take a wild guess and say it was a black figure." He said crossing his arms.

"Yes. How did you know?" Ruby asked.

"Because it wasn't a dream, it was an omen. Typically, omens don't get everything right. So if or if not your sister is going to die I'm unsure. However," He took a deep breath. "I don't know when, I don't know how, and I don't know why, but your team will turn against you. Then something will protect you." He looked at her; she was speechless, to say the least.

"Or at least that's what I would get from it." He continued.

There was a rustle in the bushes behind them, as they turned they watched as a pack of beowolves emerged from the forest.

Ruby unsheathed her weapon and stepped in front of Simon.

"What are those?" Simon asked casually, entering a battle-stance.

"You can't be serious."

"And if I am?"

"These are beowolves, you know, Creatures of Grimm."

"Look, you're going to have to give me private lessons later. Are they friendly or not."

"No!" Ruby shouted. When she returned her attention to the pack, a much, much larger beowolf emerged from the trees. Coming in at about fifteen feet tall, it had a ludicrous amount of armor, and its sights were set on the small red reaper in front of it.

Ruby blasted herself forward, she planned to lodge her beloved scythe in between the two bone plates on either side of its chest.

 _Wait, since when do beowolves grow armor on their chest._ The one distracting thought allowed the beowolf to easily block her attack with its forearms, also coated in a thick layer of bone, and then knock her back towards Simon with one swing.

Ruby flew off the edge of the cliff; Simon quickly reached out grabbing the blade of the scythe. Blood dripping from his fingers.

He pulled Ruby back onto the hill, carefully trying to avoid any more cuts.

"I-" Ruby started.

"Later." He interrupted. He started walking towards them.

"Are you crazy? You're going to fight them?" Ruby called out.

"Obviously." He retorted.

"My scythe couldn't cut through their armor, what are you going to do?"

"Watch and learn." He said.

The large beowolf stepped forward. Ruby now saw what was wrong. The beast walked upright, like a human, and its armor was like a warriors; shoulder guards, chest plate, gauntlets. It even had what looked like a helmet.

The Grimm stepped forward winding up a punch, Ruby had to give credit, its form was perfect, much like Yang's.

The beowolf launched its fist forward; Simon brought his up to meet it. When the two connected there was a large resounding crack. Ruby wondered if Simon had broken his arm, of course that was before the armor on the monster's hand and arm exploded, leaving behind bare hide. Simon took advantage of the beast's pain, stepping forward; he palmed its right knee towards its left foot. Not only shattering the armor around the point of contact, but also breaking its leg.

The Grimm fell to one knee, bringing its head into Simons reach. He grabbed either side of its helmet and brought his knee up into its face. Effectively, although viciously, killing the beast.

The rest of the beowolves slowly retreated to the forest. Ruby ran up beside Simon, but all he did was stare. Not at the beowolves around them, but something else…

Ruby followed his gaze and saw it, another Grimm about seventy-five feet into the forest. She could tell it was massive because of its shadow against the background. It didn't move like any Grimm she'd ever seen, after a minute it slithered away out of sight.

"Now that _that_ is gone, what did you just do?" Ruby demanded.

"Questions for later." Simon replied with a smile.

"That's going to be a reoccurring theme with you isn't it?"

"Oh you have no idea."

"Anyway what you just did was amazing; I've never seen anyone fight like that. Not the hand-to-hand part, Yang does that, but the whole no weapon thing." She exclaimed.

"I do have a weapon; I just didn't bring it with me."

"Wait," A thought entered her mind. "Do you go to any of the training academies?"

"No, why?" He didn't like where this was going.

"Why don't you come to BEACON!" She shouted.

He didn't like that idea at all.

"Sure, I guess. I mean, what's the worst that can happen." He said cheerfully.

 _A lot of bad can happen._ He needed to stop this now.

"Ruby," She stopped her rant and listened. "How am I going to go to a school to fight Grimm if I don't know what Grimm are?"

"I'll teach you." She answered casually.

"Ruby I-… Ugh, I'll go." He just needed to stop that bad from happening, how hard could that be.

 _Very._ But he had made his decision, and Ruby couldn't be happier.

 _LATER_

Ruby walked through the door to her room, and had completely forgotten about Yang.

"Sis…" Yang was standing in the middle of their room. Blake and Weiss were out. Probably sleeping elsewhere since Yang was most likely keeping them up, and classes started up again tomorrow.

"Yes Yang?" Ruby answered.

"Where have you been?"

"Um, out?" Ruby said desperately.

"You know what I said before you left. WHOSE ASS DO I HAVE TO KICK?" The blonde was now rolling up her sleeves, walking towards the doorway.

"YANG, Yang, yang, yang, yang…" Ruby said calmly. "You'll meet him tomorrow."

"What do you mean by that?" But Ruby walked past her.

Ruby looked at the clock; half past one. It didn't take long for her to teach Simon what Grimm are, but it was well past her bed time. She flopped on to her bed, not even bothering with her clothes, and quickly fell asleep.

 **Wow, um Dust here, again. I must say though, with over a thousand and two hundred words, this is my longest chapter yet. But holy crap this took a long time to write. I don't know if I'm going to keep this up yet, but we'll see. Anyway hope you enjoyed.**

 **And that's all for this** _ **Outsider…**_


	7. Chapter 7

Title

"Ruby wake up!" Ruby opened her eyes and jumped when she saw Weiss standing over her. "What?"

"It's nothing, just… What's wrong?" Ruby rubbed her eyes, slowly recovering from her shock.

"You have fifteen minutes to get ready. We have class today."

"Why didn't you wake me up earlier?"

"You looked like you needed it." She said gesturing to her clothes, which had scuff marks all over. "What happened last night?"

"I'll tell you later, I need to get ready first." She hoped up and rushed to get her uniform on. Within ten minutes she ran out the door to catch up with her fellow team mates.

Bursting into the classroom she quickly took her seat, Professor Goodwitch walked into the classroom immediately after.

"Welcome back class; now before we get started, I have some news. Because it would be against tradition to come back without _something_ happening over break." She said to the room. "We have a new student."

Ruby gasped at the news but quickly covered her mouth when people glanced at her.

"What is it?" Yang asked.

"You'll see." Ruby replied looking at Goodwitch.

The door clicked and slowly opened.

"Ah, and here he is now. Class this is Simon." Glynda said gesturing towards the door.

Simon walked in and scanned the room, he raised a small smile when he saw Ruby, who smiled in return, but his face returned to neutral as he walked towards Goodwitch.

"Sorry I'm late Glynda." Whispering could be heard from the students. Most likely about how he spoke to Goodwitch.

"Actually your dramatic timing is perfect." Glynda said to him with a smile, he nodded in acknowledgment. "Now, because we have no knowledge of his combat skills, would-"

"Actually you do." Simon said interrupting the Professor. He pulled a scroll out of his coat pocket and handed it to Goodwitch.

Ruby noted how Simon was still wearing his coat, but he was wearing the school shirt and pants under it.

"Impressive." The Professor said, handing the device back to Simon. "Take a seat, there is an open one next to Ms. Rose." She said pointing to Ruby.

Simon casually walked over to his seat and sat down.

"What was on the scroll?" Ruby whispered to Simon once he was seated.

"I'll show you later." He replied. "At lunch I guess." 

Ruby got her lunch and scanned the room for Simon, he wasn't that hard to find; the table he was sitting at was completely empty, it seemed people were avoiding him.

She walked over to his table, in his left hand he held a beat up leather book, in his right hand he held a quill, and a jar of ink was on the table in front of him. Ruby noticed his right palm was wrapped in a ripped strip of black cloth, which wrapped around his forearm and up into his sleeve.

She sat down next to him and tried to read what he was writing, however he quickly closed the book and shoved it into the inside of his coat.

"It's not very ladylike to eavesdrop like that Rose." He said looking over at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Well I'm sorry I'm being curious." Ruby replied crossing her arms.

"Wait, how do you two know each other?" Weiss asked sitting down across from Ruby.

"I'd like to know too." Yang said, setting her foot on the bench next to Weiss. Blake quietly sat down next to Yang's foot, keeping an eye on Simon.

"I'll let you handle this one." Simon said pulling a flask out of his coat.

"Is that alcohol?" Weiss asked in a disapproving tone.

"With all due respect, perhaps you should get an answer before you start judging, Schnee." He replied taking a sip from the silver container before stuffing it back into his pocket.

"Wait, do you know Weiss?" Blake asked.

"No. But I know those eyes." Simon replied, staring at Weiss.

" _Anyway…_ Simon this is my team; Weiss, Blake, and my sister, Yang." Ruby said waving to each of her team members respectively. "Team this is Simon… We met last night, at Sunset Hill."

"YOU'RE HIM?" The group said simultaneously. Simon simply smiled. At this point JNPR decided to show up.

"What's the commotion?" Pyrrha asked.

" _This_ is the Outsider." Blake said to the new arrivals. It seemed Ruby's team had told them about the whole situation.

"That's you?" Jaune asked.

"Indeed." Simon replied.

"Why 'The Outsider'?" Ren asked. Taking a seat, shortly after the rest of the team did the same.

"The answer is _literally_ in the name." Simon responded casually.

"Oh, is that why you didn't know?" Ruby said. Simon nodded.

"Didn't know what?" Jaune asked.

"Well, until last night he didn't know what Grimm were." Ruby explained.

"What do you mean until last night?" Blake questioned.

"We were attacked, and he… sort of saved my life. If it weren't for him I'd be at the bottom of Sunset Cliff right now." Ruby said. "But that's not all. The Grimm that attacked us wasn't natural, it was wearing armor."

"Most Grimm do." Ren replied.

"No, not like that. It was like _wearing_ the armor; it didn't look like it grew it. It looked very much like a knight. It walked upright. And it punched; it didn't use its claws."

"Its form was quite exceptional as well." Simon added.

"Yeah, it was very strange." Ruby finished.

"Excuse me." The group turned and saw CFVY walking over to their table. "Are you Simon?" The tables around them were now interested as well.

"Indeed I am." Simon replied standing up.

"Coco." She said extending her right arm; Simon reached out and shook it briefly before bringing his hands behind his back. "You were the one who took the Third Year mission, is that right?"

"Yes it is. Professor Ozpin assigned it to me." Simon replied.

"I saw your combat report; you did that mission without a team?" Simon nodded. "Impressive, I also hear you didn't use your weapon."

"There was no need to." Simon explained, shrugging his shoulders.

"Heh, well I hope one day I'll be able to see you fight." Coco said.

"And I, you." Simon responded before Coco continued on her way, patting Simon on the shoulder as she passed. Her team followed but one of them stayed.

"I'm Velvet." She said with a short nod, which Simon returned. "Would you mind if I asked you what your Semblance is?"

"My what?" Simon said with a confused look.

"Your Semblance." Velvet replied. Simon glanced over at Ruby.

"Semblance is a term used to describe the manifestation of your soul. Mine for instance is my speed." Ruby explained. _First Grimm and now this. How does he not know?_

"Ah, well… I guess you could say I can amplify and concentrate vibrations." Simon said.

"Could you give an example?" Velvet asked. Simon nodded and sat down. Velvet leaned up against him, putting her hand on his shoulder. Simon looked at her hand, then up at her face.

"Sorry." She said taking her hand off him.

"No you're fine it's just… you remind me of a friend back home." He said. Velvet stepped forward and put her hand back on his shoulder, and he fought to hold back a smile. _Just like her._ He thought.

He put his hand in the middle of the table, pressing his middle finger against his thumb. He was about to snap but stopped. He turned and looked at Velvet, before turning and looking at Blake.

"You two may want to cover your ears." He said after looking them over several times.

He put his hand back on the table, when his fingers snapped a loud boom filled the mess hall. Many students jumped at the sudden sound.

"That was interesting, but what did you mean by concentrate?" Velvet asked after everyone had recovered. Simon hummed looking around the room, until his eyes fell on to Cardin, who was currently picking on a boy with dog ears. Simon smiled.

"Watch this." Simon said picking up the inkwell that was still on the table. He chucked the object high into the air above Cardin. Simon pointed his arm towards the bottle and snapped. To the others around him it sounded like a normal snap, but to the bottle it was a shockwave that shattered the glass and released the ink, letting it fall onto Cardin.

The large boy stood as the others around him hushed their laughs.

"ALRIGHT WHO HAS THE BALLS?!" Cardin shouted.

"There, happy?" Simon said looking at Velvet.

"Very, thank you." The rabbit said before running off.

"Is that how you broke the Beowolf's armor?" Ruby asked. Simon nodded.

"I used the vibrations from our fists connecting to slowly deconstruct his armor, and then I used a large burst to finish the job." Simon said.

"Wait, you fought that Beowolf _barehanded_." Jaune asked. Again, Simon nodded.

"Do you remember what it looked like?" Ren asked. Simon reached into his coat and pulled out the leather book.

"Like this." He said. He placed the book on the table; the page it was opened to contained a very detailed drawing of said Beowolf.

"You're right it is very strange looking." Blake commented.

"Another thing:" Simon said. "I'm going to assume that the older the beast gets, the more of its bones grow out of its skin. That's what makes its armor, correct?" The group nodded. "Not this one. The bone on its arm was wrapped _around_ its arm, it wasn't grown."

"There was also… something in the forest, it didn't move like any Grimm I've ever seen before so…" Ruby trailed off, hoping the others knew something. But they remained quiet.

Simon picked up his book and stood.

"Where are you going?" Ruby asked.

"Ozpin asked to see me after lunch." He replied. "I'll talk to you guys later." He walked out of the room as the bell rang. The group grabbed their things and headed to their next class.


	8. Chapter 8

New Quest

Ozpin sat in his office; he had recently received a troubling report. Taking a sip from his coffee he looked at the papers on his desk. He had decided earlier that team RWBY would handle this. However he was unsure of his choice as they were still a first year team but- his thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Come in." Ozpin said loudly, the door opened and Simon walked in. "Ah, Simon. To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?"

"I want you to send me with RWBY." Simon wasted no time in voicing his mind.

"What do you mean?" Ozpin asked.

"You're sending them on a mission soon right? I want you to send me with them." Simon replied. Ozpin knew Simon was perceptive, but this was ridiculous.

"How did know I was sending them on a mission? I haven't said anything about it." Ozpin also knew that Simon was very secretive about his methods; his thoughts only proven when Simon tapped on the side of his head instead of answering. "Okay, but why?"

"I have a bad feeling is all." Simon said blatantly. Ozpin knew what he meant, he too had a 'bad feeling' about this mission.

"Alright." Ozpin gave in; even though he only knew him for a day or so, he knew Simon was not one to give in easily. They argued back and forth for an hour or so the night before about sending him on a mission to test his abilities. "Is that all?"

"Yes, thank you." Simon tilted his head forward before turning to exit the room.

 _Later_

Ruby walked towards the airship with her team, although she wore a smile, she was terrified. Her thoughts drifted back to when they received the mission from Ozpin.

 _You four will be heading out soon to address some problems to the East, I will also be sending some… backup with you. Be careful out there._

"What do you think the backup is?" Yang asked. Weiss and Ruby shrugged, Blake threw a sideways glance at Yang.

"Please tell me you're not serious." She said. Yang looked at her. "It's obvious who it- speak of the Devil." Blake looked towards the ship.

"This is a good book." Simon said as the group came into talking distance. He was holding a black book, on the cover the title 'Ninjas of Love'. Blake seemed uncomfortable.

"Where did you get that?" She asked.

"Book store." Was his reply. "Don't worry I won't judge, I wasn't lying when I said it was a good book." He stuffed the book into his coat before the others could get a good look at it.

He was wearing his black pants and shirt again; he quickly adjusted the cloth on his hand.

"Ready?" Simon said turning into the airship. The sword on his back reflected the light, catching Ruby's eye.

"Is that your weapon?" Ruby asked excitedly.

"Hmm?" Simon glanced back at her as he sat down. "Oh, yeah this is it." He reached back and grabbed the sword with his left hand. As he lifted it up the side of the scabbard opened allowing him to easily draw the weapon.

Ruby sat down next to Simon and examined the weapon. It was three inches wide, about three and a half feet long, and made of a black metal that glistened in the light. The cross-guard had a design that mimicked a thorn bush. On either end there were small gems each with a different color, the two on the side Ruby was looking at were black and yellow, as she turned the weapon over she saw the other side had two different colors; red and sky blue. There was also a large white gem in the middle that went all the way through to the other side.

The grip had a simple criss-cross design with leather, and the pommel was a wolf head.

"Why a wolf?" Ruby asked, pointing it out.

"It's a fox actually. It signifies swiftness and cunning, as well as being secretive and deadly." He explained as he sheathed the weapon.

The ship shook as it lifted off the ground, reminding Ruby of the mission. She threw her eyes downward. Simon didn't notice until about ten minutes later.

"Still bothering you?" Simon said quietly.

"A little."

"Don't worry, it isn't supposed to happen till you're married, remember? You can visit the plains as much as you want till then." Simon reassured her.

"Right, thanks." Ruby replied. She figured she would question him on how he knows this, but she thought it could wait.

"No problem sweetheart." Simon said placing his hand on her head.

"Sweetheart?" The rest of the team crossed their arms. Simon looked at them confused.

"Wha- oh! Sorry, force of habit." Simon said rubbing his neck.

"Calling my sister 'sweetheart' is force of habit?" Yang said, leaning forward.

"No no no, I didn't mean it like that; I just have a bad habit of calling people sweetheart." He explained.

Yang was going to say something but the ship shook violently.

"What was that?" Simon shouted at the pilot.

"Nothing, just a bit of turbulence." He replied.

"That's some pretty violent turbulence." Simon replied, mostly to himself. He rose and walked into the cockpit.

"So, Sis…" Yang said, sitting next to Ruby. "Why is he calling you sweetheart?"

"I don't know, I'm pretty sure he was telling the truth." Ruby replied honestly; but Yang raised an eyebrow.

Simon returned and sat down in his previous seat. The group stayed quiet for a while.

Ruby watched as Simon reached into his coat and pulled out a beat up leather book, the same one he had at lunch the day before. He pulled out an odd looking pen, and flipped through the pages. It was obvious he was reading them or at least skimming through. Ruby slowly leaned closer and peeked into the book.

It was written in a language she couldn't read, she couldn't even tell what it was. The entire book alternated between two writing styles. One, very neat and simplistic; the other was curvy and smooth. Most of it looked hand written.

Eventually, Simon turned to a blank page and started writing. He wrote in the same style as the curvy and smooth parts of the book. When he was done he returned the book to his coat.

As he did so the ship shook violently once more; his hands fumbled about, causing a red crystal to fall from the inside of his coat.

His eyes widened and his hand shot forward at lightning speeds, catching the item a few inches above the floor.

"What is that?" Yang asked as he recovered from the lunge.

"Um, I don't know what you call it here but it's like… crystallized energy I guess. This particular one causes quite the explosion." He said. He pulled out a rolled up cloth and unfurled it, revealing a set of different colored crystals; he placed the red item in its place the returned the pack to his coat.

"So it's like Dust?" Ruby asked. Simon snapped his head towards her.

"I'm sorry?" Simon said; his eyes of concern.

"Dust, you know this stuff." Weiss pulled out a small piece of Dust and threw it over to Simon. He caught it in his right hand and brought it to his face.

He began to examine the crystal. Ruby looked at his eyes, they seemed full of concern. Simon blinked and Ruby saw his eyes began moving again, with another blink they stopped.

"Interesting." He said, tossing it back to Weiss. "Yes, what I dropped is a lot like that."

"Simon?" Ruby said. "I've been meaning to ask you this but; what is that thing you did with your eyes? You did it at Sunset as well."

"Oh, umm…" He looked away from her.

"A'ight we're here!" The pilot shouted. They felt the ship slow down and descend.

"Wow amazing how time flies huh?" Simon said standing and walking towards the door. Ruby let out a sigh of irritation before following him.

"Still 'bout a mile to the village but this is the best place to land that we got." The pilot called out. "Have fun!" The ship slowly lifted off, leaving the group of five in the forest.

"I thought we were going to the plains." Blake said. "What did he mean by 'only place to land'?"

"We are, but there's a village nearby that we need to visit first." Simon replied. He looked around, and then walked towards the woods.

"Do you even know where you're going?" Weiss asked.

"Indeed I do, Princess." Simon glanced back with a smile. "Do keep up."

"Better than 'Ice Queen' I guess." Weiss said to herself.

 **Hey guys, Dust here. Sorry about the whole not doing anything for a month but with school I've been pretty busy. Anyway I just wanted to get this out to let you know I'm still working on it. I'm going to try to upload weekly and I've got the next chapter almost done so I'll post that this weekend.**

 **Thanks for sticking around.**

 **-Dust**


	9. Chapter 9

_Unintended Side-effect_

"We've been walking forever, are you sure you know where we are going?" Yang said.

"I do so please stop asking." Simon said, stepping over a log.

"The better question is: are we going the right way? We have stepped over that same log like three times." Blake said crossing her arms.

"No we're not." Simon replied.

"Why not?!" Weiss shouted.

"Because we're being followed." Simon said blatantly. They reached for their weapons. "Stop." They looked towards him. "If they were going to attack us they would've done so ten minutes ago. I assume they are just guardians."

"Why haven't you said anything then?"

"I didn't want them to think us hostile. Question:" He turned towards the group. "Are there different languages that these villages speak?"

"Not that I know of." Blake said

"Of course. Stay there." He turned and walked towards a nearby tree. Raising his leg he kicked the trunk, a loud crack was heard from one of the branches, and a scream. Seconds later a body hit the ground.

"Come on say something, anything." Simon had his hands on his knees, hovering over the person on the ground. The man started mumbling making random sounds. "Perfect thank you."

Simon held his hand out to the man. Reluctantly the man accepted. Once they were both on their feet Simon spoke, he made similar sounds to the ones the man made. They started speaking back and forth.

The man turned towards the group and bowed. Before walking back the way they came.

"He says he's sorry about the caution, he didn't know we were from Beacon." Simon said, following after him.

"Since when could you speak different languages?" Yang asked.

"When did I say I didn't?"

"What?"

"Come on." Simon said turning away.

 _The Village_

The group breached the clearing, laying their eyes upon the small village.

"You four explore around a bit, I've got to go talk to the person in charge here." Simon said. "Try not to get into any trouble please. Oh, and try not to insult anyone, Weiss."

"Hey!" Weiss yelled at him, but as he turned away she followed; scolding him as they walked.

Ruby left her group and walked around the village, the people there had rather nice clothes, they weren't wearing leaves or anything like the guy in the woods was. Their houses were wooden shacks. She noticed that many of the inhabitants were human, but just as many were faunas. Some of them; it seemed were together.

After a bit of walking Ruby came across a rather large building, or at least in comparison it was large. She watched as people came and went, most of them wearing robes or what seemed to be formal attire.

Curious Ruby wrapped herself in her cloak to try to mimic those in robes, and then entered the building. Inside she was greeted by a sweet aroma. It was a large circular area with different booths on the outer edge, in the middle there was what seemed to be an altar. She kept to herself as she walked around. At the booths people were selling flowers, tomes, robes, and religious looking items; the last booth Ruby came up to sold candles, but they were different. As she got closer she saw that they burned with black flame, she also noticed that these were what was producing the sweet smell.

Suddenly the room seemed to feel lighter; Ruby looked around but didn't see anything strange, except the altar. She got close to the middle of the room. The altar was a thin, circular stone pillar with a design that made it look like a thorn bush. It was three inches wide at the top and six at the bottom; it was just a bit higher than her waist.

On the top sat a black flower, it had not bloomed and the stem receded into a small hole in the middle of the pillar. Ruby noticed there was a circle carved into the pillar that went around the edge. Inside the circle was a seven pointed star.

Ruby was in awe, this was a spectacular sight; but she hadn't noticed that everyone was looking at her.

"Beautiful isn't it?" Ruby turned and saw an old lady, just a tad shorter than her.

"Yes it is, wait you can speak my language?" Ruby said. The lady nodded her head.

"Indeed, I learned it so I could teach your people about our culture. I am Priestess Sarah." The lady held out her hand.

"Ruby Rose." Ruby said, accepting the gesture.

"Rose?" The women's eyes were wide. She turned towards the door and said something in her language. The man by the door peered out side then responded. A short conversation and the man began standing outside.

"Allow me to show you something." The woman spoke to Ruby again. She took a black powder out of a pouch hanging on her neck, and rubbed it into the carving on the pedestal.

A second later the flower bloomed, it was much like a rose but it was different somehow. It moved and flowed, like it was sentient. The woman took a hold of Ruby's hand and lifted it towards the flower. The flowers petals seemed to gravitate towards their hands. Ruby let out a small laugh as they tickled her palm.

Without warning the flower burst into flame, black flame. Ruby pulled her hand away. The flower didn't burn, but instead it wrapped around itself and returned to an un-bloomed state. Then went out.

"Um, if I may ask; what is your culture?" Ruby said turning to the woman.

"We believe that a Goddess created us, humans that is, and gave us the world. But her companion had an idea; and he created the Faunus. Thus we believe that our Goddess is human but her companion is a Faunus."

"What about the Grimm?" Ruby asked. "Where did they come from?"

"An unintended side-effect." She said casually. "Something happened creating the Grimm. As a counter-measure the Goddess gave us Aura and Semblances, whilst her companion gave us Dust, and this." She gestured to the flower.

"And what is this?" Ruby asked.

"Joy." She said. "Beauty." She looked at Ruby. "Hope. A chance to thrive in the Grimm's presence."

The man outside came in and said something hurriedly.

"You must go, quickly. Use the back door, do not come back here. Run back to your group."She said pushing her towards one of the booths. She spoke to the keep and they opened a small hatch. "Quickly if you're seen here we are all doomed. Go!"

Ruby reluctantly forced herself out the small door and ran through the village, ducking under clotheslines, dodging past confused human-Faunus couples until she saw her team, Simon with them.

"Ah there you are. You ready?" Simon said.

"For what?" Ruby asked.

"The guardians have found an unusual Grimm in the plains. They believe it is organizing the recent attacks against the village." He explained.

"What do you mean by organizing?" Blake asked.

"Grimm may be evil, but from what I've seen, they're not stupid." He started walking towards a group of 'guardians' at the edge of the village.

"Oh, almost forgot. None of you got in trouble right?" Simon said facing them. They all shook their heads. "You didn't insult anyone?" He was talking mainly to Weiss but their response was the same. "Alrighty then, let's go."

The group started into the woods, but Ruby cast one last glance towards the large building.

 _Doomed?_


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey Guys, Dust here. So I wanted to say something before anybody brought it up. Yes, I am aware of Monty's naming rule for RWBY, I'm ignoring it for a reason. Also; Yes, I am aware that Faunus usually only have one animal trait (I'll be breaking that in this chapter), there is a reason I'm ignoring this as well. In fact, it's the same thing for both. Just wanted to say that before anybody wasted their breath.**

 **Anyway, back to another** _ **Outsider…**_

 _On the Way to the Plains_

Simon and the Guardian talked back and forth as they walked. Weiss was constantly complaining about the heat, bugs, and just everything in general; meanwhile Yang entertained herself by giving Weiss more topics to complain about. Blake seemed to be minding her own business. Ruby however, was deep in thought.

 _Goddess. Human. Companion. Faunus. Grimm. Aura. Semblance. Dust._

 _Hope._

Something was off about that story but she couldn't tell what. Of course there was how humans existed before dust, which didn't make sense, but that wasn't what was troubling her.

Wait. Why… Why was she even thinking about it? Why is this story sticking with her? She decided to forget about it, at least for now. She looked up, the person in front of her was Simon; like _right_ in front of her. She bumped into him, when she recovered she realized he stopped walking.

"Uhm, Simon?" She started, but he raised his hand. He stood there looking around for a bit, then he spoke briefly to the Guardian. Turning he put his hands on Ruby's shoulders and leaned in real close.

" _Don't move. Don't speak. And do NOT interfere._ " He whispered in her ear. He seemed angry.

He walked forward leaving the group behind; he stopped about fifty feet from them. After maybe fifteen seconds he turned back towards the group.

"I guess it was nothing." He said. Ruby noticed he said it a little too loudly, he wasn't _that_ far away.

Without warning a Grimm appeared behind Simon and lunged at him. Ruby tried to rush forward but she couldn't move, her feet seemed to be stuck. Simon wasn't moving either; he must've heard it, why wasn't he doing anything?

His eyes were closed and his arms crossed, like he was expecting something.

Just as suddenly as the beast appeared, a weapon pierced its body. The weapon had a long shaft. It had been thrown from the right, Ruby turned in the direction it came and she saw what she assumed to be the wielder.

They lunged towards the Grimm, ripping their weapon out of its flesh, before cleanly decapitating the creature. As the Grimm's body disappeared the group got a good look at its killer.

A girl; she had white hair that beautifully flowed down to her lower back. She wore an open black vest with a sleeveless white under shirt, both extending just below her waist. Her black pants were baggy but not too loose. And then there were her most prominent features; two white ears and a fluffy white tail, all of which, tipped with black fur. She looked young perhaps two, maybe three, years older than Ruby.

The girl turned towards the group, her eyes focused on Simon. It was quiet. Simon stepped closer to the girl, and did something no one expected.

He slapped her.

The group gasped in unison. Even the guardian was stunned. Blake seemed especially irritated, slapping some Faunus girl he didn't even know, after she saved him too.

"What did I tell you before I left?" He said to her.

… Oh.

"Not to follow you." The girl replied. Her white ears were flat on her head, her right cheek a deep red. RWBY stayed quiet, the guardian not even understanding what just happened.

"What am I going to do with you?" Simon sighed, placing his hand over his eyes.

"I'm sorry." The girl said, but Simon turned away.

"Do not talk to her." He said to the rest of the group. He glared at the guardian, who quickly walked off in the direction they needed to go.

As they continued walking the girl stayed right behind Simon, though she was no taller than his shoulder. Her large white tail was tucked between her legs. Her ears constantly shifted position, like she was considering something.

Ruby looked at the girl's weapon. It was currently clipped diagonally onto her back by a strap that ran across her body, similar to Simon's. The weapon itself was a spear- kinda. It had a long shaft with a criss-cross design carved into the white metal.

The business end looked like a large kitchen knife; the base was three inches wide and extended about six inches before one end quickly curved towards the other. The black metal of the blade was connected to the handle by an ornamental cross-guard-like piece.

The other end of the weapon held a black wolf head- no… it was a fox.

"So who's she?" Yang whispered in Ruby's ear.

"No idea." Ruby replied. The girl's ears perked up and turned towards them, but she didn't look.

"Psst. Psst!" Yang attempted to get her attention, but the girl only gave them sad glances.

"Think they're related?" Weiss joined the conversation.

"She's a Faunus, how could they be?" Yang responded. Suddenly Simon gave a soft chuckle, but kept walking. "OK maybe they are I don't even know anymore." Yang said, giving up.

A bit later they came to the edge of the forest. The guardian and Simon spoke briefly before the guardian left.

"He said it's just a bit further." Simon explained, "Come on." He started off but-

"Wait!" The girl grabbed Simon's arm. He gave a concerned look. "There." She pointed.

Off in the distance was a large Grimm. Not unlike the one Ruby and Simon fought at Sunset Hill. The group got low and crept to the edge of the foliage. Ruby was on Simon's left, the Faunus girl on his right.

"A patrol?" Simon whispered. The Grimm's head quickly turned in their direction, and they set their heads down.

Ruby looked towards Simon, who returned her stare raising his finger to his lips, and she copied the gesture. The Faunus girl nudged Simon's shoulder and pointed. Ruby noticed Simon's eyes change again, he raised an eyebrow.

Ruby leaned forward and looked at the girl across Simon. The girl looked back and Ruby got a good look at her eyes; they were white with black at the edge of the iris, the same as Simon's.

They stayed and observed the beast for about a minute before Simon nudged Ruby's arm. As she looked at him she saw the girl was gazing at her as well. Simon started making motions with his hand attempting to speak to Ruby.

" _Me. Her. It."_ Is what Ruby got from his gestures. She nodded at him. Simon prepared to launch himself towards the Grimm, the Faunus doing the same.

"Follow." He whispered before speeding away, the girl chasing him a split second later.

They ran close together, Simon in the lead. Simon's arms were extended behind him; the girl mimicked his movement, her weapon resting in her right hand, parallel to her arm.

The Grimm turned towards them as they got closer, and it raised its arms, getting into a fighting position. Simon came up in front of the creature, before launching himself to the right. Getting low to the ground, he threw his fist into the beast's left knee, snapping it in half.

Simon ran past as it fell to the ground, but the girl was close now. As the Grimm fell forward she lunged, her speed forcing her weapon into a crack in its chest piece. The Faunus pulled her spear out of the creature's chest as it dissolved, leaving behind its armor.

"Good girl." Simon patted the Faunus on the head as she came close to him.

"That was incredible!" Ruby exclaimed as the group caught up with them. "You two are perfectly in sync, it's amazing."

"They're a lot weaker than I thought they'd be." Weiss stated.

"It seems they're designed to only take on one opponent at a time." Simon replied, examining the armor.

"Why did the armor not dissolve?" Blake was now hovering over Simon.

"I don't think it's part of the creature. It is a lot like granite, but weaker." Simon said.

"None of this makes any sense." Weiss complained.

Simon stood, kicking around the gray obstacles on the ground.

"Let's keep moving." He said walking away. The Faunus following after him happily.

"Soon he's going to take command from you, sis." Yang joked, placing her hand on the younger girl's shoulder.

"I think he already has." Ruby retorted, staring after him.

 **Dust here again. Sorry for the short chapter this week; I probably could've worked on it a bit more but I've been obsessed with Dark Souls recently. But I digress, what I wanted to say here is that I'll be starting a new SideFic. I don't know what it'll be (Most likely a medieval AU), but I'm doing it just in case the chapter for** _ **Outsider**_ **isn't ready that week, so if I don't post a chapter of this I will have a new one for that, and Vice Versa. However if I post a new chapter for both I'll make sure to let you know. Simon will be recurring character in it, maybe even a main; don't know yet.**

 **Anyway, sorry about the long update, but I just wanted to let you know.**

 **Thanks for sticking around…**

 **-Dust**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello peoples, I have a few things I need to say before we start this posting spree I have a few things to ask; 1) Still don't know what to do for a side project so if you could be ever so kind as to send me a PM (please don't use the comments) of what you'd like me to do. I'll wait until I post chapter 13 to make a decision. 2) If you do send a PM if you wouldn't mind to give me a rating of what you think of my story; that'd be great.  
Thanks.**

 **Anyway back to another** _ **Outsider…**_

Ruby and her team followed Simon across the plains, they'd only been walking for five minutes; but it felt longer than that.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Weiss asked quietly as she came up behind Ruby. Simon and the Faunus girl (it seemed like Simon was intentionally avoiding her name) had been talking for several minutes now, though the group couldn't understand them as they spoke a different language.

"No idea… Why don't you ask them?" Ruby said jokingly, she didn't expect she would take it seriously.

"What are you two talking about?" Weiss asked. Ruby's head fell into her hands.

"Oh nothing in particular." Simon replied.

"Why are you being so secretive then?" Weiss continued.

"Because we're talking about you." The Faunus answered her question. Simon mimicked Ruby's current position. "What? Was I not supposed to tell her?"

 _This girl is either more innocent than I am, or she's fucking with him._ Ruby thought.

"Remind me to take away, like, _all_ of your privileges went we get home." Simon scolded her.

"Why would I do that?" She replied with a sly smile. Her tail swept back and forth and she spoke, she also seemed to be very touchy-feely person because even though her hands were behind her back, her shoulder constantly touched Simon's arm as they walked.

Simon appeared much calmer and more open around her. He had stopped scolding her about her disobeying him too; perhaps he can't stay mad at her for long.

Simon stopped walking and let an exasperated sigh.

"Looks like we found the nest." He said gesturing to the large crater-like area in front of them. "What's left of it anyway." He continued as he walked towards the center.

The large crater area was deserted, but it was obvious _something_ was here.

"What do you suppose happened?" Blake said loudly as the group spread out.

"They booked it, probably. Not sure why though." Simon said.

"Because they knew an ass kick was coming most likely." Yang joked.

Ruby walked to the far end of the nest, she saw tracks that lead in the opposite direction they came from. Stating her discovery, the group talked about possible reasons the nest was deserted.

Suddenly Simon let out a low chuckle, which slowly turned into a full out laugh.

"Uhm, Simon?" Blake said. Simon was crouched over an odd object in a small crevice.

"Oh, don't mind me." He said with a sting in his words. He was crouched over an odd looking object, a book most likely.

"What's wrong?" Yang asked. Team RWBY gathered a bit behind Simon, trying not to get too close.

"It's nothing, forget about." Simon replied walking away.

"Where are you going?" Yang asked.

"Home; back to Beacon that is." He responded briefly.

"But-" Ruby started.

"Our job here is done." Simon explained looking at her. "Now that the Grimm are gone the village is safe and we can go home."

"What if the Grimm come back?" Blake asked following him.

"Then we do too." He retorted. The group hurried after him. Ruby noticed Simon was especially irritated.

 _What's gotten into him?_ She wondered. She realized the Faunus girl wasn't with them, looking around Ruby saw her running towards them; book in hand. Once she caught up she stood next to Simon and held the book behind her back.

After a few minutes they arrived back at the forest. Simon sat down up against a trunk and took out his silver flask. The rest of the group joined him as Ruby gave the pilot their coordinates.

When Ruby walked over to Simon's tree she saw him sitting up, flask in hand, with his head back against the tree. The Faunus sat next to him with her head resting on his arm. She curled her tail into her lap and Simon used his free hand to stroke it. Without warning Simon's eyes shot open.

"Idea!" He said excitedly. Taking another drink from his flask he walked back out into the field, the Faunus on his heels. Ruby caught up to him as he crouched down next to the scattered armor of the Grimm from earlier.

Simon spent a minute or two examining the items before Ruby spoke up.

"Whatcha doin'?" She said. He looked up at her and his eye- dear Gods, is eyes, she got the feeling again; of wanting to obey his every order, but he looked away.

"I'll try to stop doing that to you…" He said with a sad tone.

"Can you please explain what you're doing, it's… unsettling, to say the least." Ruby felt a shiver go down her spine as she thought back to what had happened.

"If I ever use it on you or your friends I'll explain what it is." He said.

"Didn't you just use it on me though?" Ruby argued.

"When he says 'use it' he means 'abuse you with it'." The Faunus girl answered for him, her smile combined with what she said was almost as unsettling as Simon's eyes.

"Anyway, what _are_ you doing?" Ruby asked, returning to her original question.

"I had a hunch so I'm playing on it." He replied. He slammed his fist into one of the pieces of armor; and a crack appeared where he struck it. "And it looks like I was right."

"About what?" Ruby didn't see where he was going with this.

"The first night we fought one of these, I was able to _shatter_ its armor with my punch; today, the Grimm's actual _leg_ gave out before its armor did." He explained.

"Meaning?"

"Meaning the armor is getting stronger. Pretty soon we won't be able to even fight these… advanced Grimm."Simon said.

"Why advanced?"

"The armor they have isn't natural right? Which leads me to believe that the way they are getting it isn't natural either." He replied.

Ruby heard the familiar hum of the airship's engines as it came over the forest.

"You called?" The pilot shouted as the group entered the vehicle.

"Back to Beacon!" Ruby shouted at him.

"Alrighty!" The pilot said as the ship lifted into the air.

"Hey Simon?" Yang said after they got into the air.

"Hmm?" He responded.

"Nevermind." He raised an eyebrow at her but didn't pry.

The group was quiet for a minute or two before Simon stood up.

"Well I guess since you're going to be with me for a while," He said to the Faunus, "I might as well introduce you all. Team RWBY, this is Haeley; Haeley, meet Yang Xio-Long, Blake Belladonna, Weiss Schnee, and… Ruby Rose."

The girl, now known as Haeley, looked at Simon with shocked eyes at the mention of Ruby; he merely gave a brief nod.

"Nice to meet you." Haeley said with a smile. The team gave their respective hellos.

"Go ahead and ask a few questions, I guess, I need to check on something." Simon said as he entered the cockpit, leaving everyone else in an awkward silence.

"Just so I remember; Weiss, Blake, Yang," Healey said pointing to them respectively. "and her sister Ruby, right."

"How did you know we were sisters?" Ruby asked the Faunus.

"You smell similar, but not entirely; almost like…" She stopped, she closed her eyes and took slow deep breaths. "…you had the same father but not mother, correct?" The two girls nodded and it was back to silence.

"So… um, how old are you?" Weiss asked the girl.

"I'll be nineteen in five days." Haeley responded with a smile.

"Why do you let Simon boss you around so much; he acts like he owns you." Blake said.

"Because he does." She replied blatantly.

"I'm sorry what?" Blake answered back; she was shocked to say the least.

"I guess I should explain; where we come from Faunus slavery is legal and is one of the most popular practices. In fact it's illegal for Fauna to be free individuals." She said. "Now that I think about it… I think Simon comes in second for how many slaves he owns."

"That's horrible!" Blake shouted. "I can't believe him!"

"Don't get me wrong." Haeley said quickly. "Most humans treat their slaves like animals yes; but Simon is different. He owns seventeen Fauna; all of them give him more respect than anyone else. He is a very…" She took a second to think of a word, and then gave a sly smirk as it entered her mind. "…caring owner, to say the least."

"Soooo… how 'close' are you and Simon." Yang asked, thinking of the girl's final sentence.

"Oh, um. Pretty close I'd say." She whispered something under her breath, but they didn't hear it.

"Ok but, _how_ close." Yang said leaning forward.

"I-I don't know really know what you mean." She replied rubbing her neck.

"I've noticed you seem to be a touchy-feely kind of person, is that only with Simon?" Ruby asked.

"Umm, I guess he _is_ the only person I do that with." She said embarrassed. "I guess we've just been together that long."

"Together?" Yang said, again interested in the Fauna's personal life.

"Oh no, not like that." Haeley said hurriedly.

"I'm stopping this conversation here." Simon said emerging from the cockpit. Ruby saw Haeley mouth a 'thank you' to him as he sat down.

"Why are Faunus slaves where you're from?" Blake asked him. "And why do you have so many?"

"Our current leader's family has insisted in Faunus slavery for as long as the town can remember. As to why I have so many; most of them I won in games, but then there _are_ a few special cases like Haeley here." He said laying his hand on her head with the last sentence.

"Simon, you said she's going to be staying with you. Does that mean she's coming to Beacon?" Ruby asked excitedly.

"Yes, but only until I can send her home." He replied.

"SLEEPOVER!" Ruby shouted at the top of her lungs.

"Why was that the first thing to enter your mind?" Simon asked, although he was completely ignored; his voice overruled by Ruby and Yang's excitement.

"NO!" Simon shouted, quickly bringing the two sisters back to reality.

"Why not?" Ruby said sadly.

"Two things; one, I need to take her to Ozpin and see what he can do. Two, IF Ozpin lets her stay on campus, you can't have her tonight." Simon said counting the reasons on his fingers.

"Why not?" Ruby asked again.

He glanced at the Faunus next to him. "She booked tonight." He said blatantly.

"What do you mean?" This time Haeley was the one to question him. Simon placed his thumb on her chin and looked into her eyes.

"Let's not forget that you disobeyed your master." Simon's head tilted a few degrees when he said the last word.

"Of course, master." Haeley replied just loud enough so that only Simon heard her. She cast her eyes downward after Simon looked away, her face slightly blushed.

RWBY stayed quiet as these events happened before their eyes; not knowing what to make of the situation.

 _I didn't think Simon's personality could change that drastically._ Ruby thought.

"So… what about tomorrow night?" Ruby asked finally breaking the silence.

"Tomorrow would be fine." Simon replied casually, like nothing happened.

"SLEEPOVER!" The sisters shouted; again getting excited.

"Hey! Aren't we going to take a vote?" Weiss asked, clearly displeased.

"Okay… Everyone who wants a sleepover." Ruby said raising her hand. Yang raised hers as well, but Blake and Weiss kept their hands down.

"Sorry, let me re-phrase that; everyone who's _okay_ with a sleepover." Ruby said, again raising her hand. This time Blake's hand went up as well.

"You three are unbelievable." Weiss huffed, crossing her arms.

"Really 'cause I'm believing them just fine." Simon said without opening his eyes. Weiss huffed again, but held back the comment as they felt the airship slow and descend.

"Now, since I've been such a good pilot." They heard the voice from the cockpit. "How about you invite me to that sleepover y'all were talkin' about."

"Sorry, girls only!" Yang called back as they departed.

Ozpin raised his eyebrow at the pair standing in front of him.

"Just a place to stay?" He asked them.

"More like; permission to stay on campus and accompany me to classes." The first explained.

"For how long?" Ozpin asked.

"A year or so, hopefully. Three at the most." The first answered.

If only his eyebrow could rise any higher; it was certainly trying.

"How about…" Ozpin started. "She's a visitor the rest of the year; and a student afterwards." It would most definitely be easier to keep her there if she was a student.

The first looked at the second; who nodded, before returning his attention to Ozpin. "That would be fine."He said.

"Then it is done; she will be a visitor the rest of this year, and then a student at Beacon until it is time for her to depart." Ozpin repeated.

The two gave a slight bow before exiting his office.

 _An interesting year indeed._ He thought as he drank from his mug.


	12. Chapter 12

**Sorry about yesterday, I had family visit so** **I** **couldn't really work on anything; but here you go!**

 **Anyway, back to another _Outsider..._**

Simon opened his eyes. Looking around; he recognized the room Ozpin gave him. The area was about half the size of a typical dorm room; which left only enough space for one bed and a large desk opposite of the previously mentioned bed.

Simon attempted to rise but found he was fastened to his bed by a warm object. _That's right,_ He thought; _I completely forgot Haeley was here. Speaking of which what happened last night?_

He thought back to the night before; he remembered that he couldn't come up with a punishment for his Faunus servant, and thus he decided to postpone her punishment for a bit.

He let out a soft chuckle causing Haeley to stir in her sleep.

"Simon…?" She said numbly.

"Shh; it's okay sweetheart, just sleep." His calm soothing voice quickly drew the Faunus back to her dreams.

Simon inched his way out of her grasp and walked to the window. As he parted the curtains he felt the moonlight light up his face. The moon was now low in the sky, the horizon just beginning to shift colors from the sun's light.

Turning away from the window, Simon walked out of the room; making sure he made as little noise as possible for he knew the other being in the room had sensitive ears. He picked up his coat and shut the door silently.

After he checked the door lock, he proceeded to the locker rooms. His room was originally a maintenance closet; because of this it didn't have a bathroom of its own.

When Simon reached his destination he found, to his delight, that he was the only one there. He strolled into the male wash area and turned on one of the many shower heads. He pulled out the curtain, making sure that no one would catch him by surprise. While waiting for the shower to gain warmth; he stripped himself of his clothes, but kept his coat nearby should he need it.

Once the shower had reached ideal temperature he stepped under the faucet; allowing the water to cleanse his body. He stood there for a while; tapping a rhythm on his chest and adjusting the water temperature whenever he felt it was a bit cold.

At one point he decided he'd done enough idling. He finished washing himself and exited the shower. At this point Simon realized he made the mistake of forgetting to bring fresh clothes. Not wanting to get into his sleep wear just to undress again; he figured his coat would do until he reached his room.

Once he was relatively dry he donned the black trench coat and wore his towel around his waist. He wrapped the strip of black cloth around his hand; covering the scar on the dorsum of his hand.

Simon walked back to his room in silence, not that he had anyone to talk to; but that would change soon. He heard footsteps from around the corner he was approaching; they weren't hurried so Simon understood that, whoever it was, was most likely just wandering.

He stopped before the intersection not wanting to initiate an awkward situation. Simon watched as the person turned the corner towards him; it was that one girl he met a few days ago; her name was… Coco.

"Hello~" She said slyly, noticing Simon's current attire.

"Greetings; what are you doing up so early?" Simon asked as they stood in the empty corridor.

"I couldn't sleep; so I thought I would wander a bit…" She said looking him over once again. "I'm glad I did too."

Simon couldn't help but smile. As forward as she was towards him, he wasn't planning on _any_ type of relationship, at least not yet. He decided to play her game, but not make a move.

"As am I…" He said, gazing at her current wardrobe. She wore chocolate brown leggings and tank top, one of her shoulder straps hung over her arm. Her hair was messy and dangled onto her right shoulder. Simon took a second to burn this image of her into his mind; he preferred this version of her more than her typical look, but he doubted he'd ever get to see this again.

"You look good." He said stating his mind to her.

"You think so?" She asked looking down at her clothes.

"I do;" He nodded. "I think the messy look suits you." He looked into her eyes.

"Hmm… Maybe you're right." She said picking at her clothes.

Simon realized something; here he was, in an empty hallway, with one of the most popular (not to mention sexy) girls in Beacon, and he was standing here, entirely naked under his coat.

"So, what are you doing out here?" Coco asked, bringing his thoughts back to her.

"I just finished taking a shower." He replied nodding his head in the direction he came from.

"Ah, I think I might go do that." She said thinking to herself. After a second or two she gave him a sly look. "You wanna join me?"

Simon's smirk grew wider as he raised his eyebrow. "You sure about that?"

"Of course." She said leaning slightly forward. Simon decided to test just how far she'd go with this. "Sooo~?"

"Lead the way, sweetheart." Simon said. _Just to test how far she'll go._ He thought.

* * *

Haeley stirred from her sleep. The first thing she realized was that Simon wasn't next to her. As she woke up she walked over to the room's window and peeked out. The sun was peeking over the horizon; turning the sky a beautiful shade of pink and orange.

Leaving the window, she walked over to the desk; before she reached it she stumbled over something on the floor. She reached out to turn on the lamp that sat on top of the desk. As the room lit up she saw that what she tripped over was a pile of clothes; more specifically _her_ clothes.

Haeley looked down at her own body; she saw that she was wearing nothing but her underclothes. _Did I sleep next to Simon in these?_ Her face blushed at the thought. _Nononono; questions for later._

She looked around the room, she didn't like how messy it was; clothes on the floor, papers all over the place, bed disorganized, the same thing with the desk. She decided to clean up the room while she waited for Simon to return.

 _Where is he anyway?_

* * *

"Well, that was fun." Coco said as they walked from the locker rooms to their dorms. "Though I'm kind of disappointed you didn't make a move. I had to do everything." She continued letting out a sigh.

"Heh, well if there's a next time probably." Simon replied. They were both wearing their school clothes at this point; they decided to stop by their rooms to get what they needed before meeting up at the showers.

"Oh, there will be a next time; for one reason or another. I mean just look at what you did to my hair!" She said marveling in its silkiness. "How did you even do this?"

"Everyone has their secrets Coco." He said, stopping in front of her room.

"And I intend to learn more of yours." She replied with a smirk, poking her finger at his chest. She opened the door to her room and stepped inside.

"Coco! Where were you?" Simon heard Velvet's voice come from inside the room.

"Oh, nowhere." Their leader responded. She turned back to Simon before closing the door. "Bye bye, Simon."

"Until next time, Coco." Simon replied before she closed the door.

Simon stood there smiling at the door for a minute before continuing on his way.

As he walked he thought back to the showers; they didn't do anything of course, not anything inappropriate anyway, well… _too_ inappropriate. They merely washed each other's backs. Simon gave her a shoulder massage and worked his magic on her hair; but that was it.

When Simon stopped in front of his room he realized that he was grinning like an idiot. Wiping the slate he entered his room with a blank face; only to have it turn to wonder as he saw the room before him.

All of the papers once scattered around the room were all neatly piled on the desk, the dirty clothes were put into a bin by the door, the bed was neatly made; and standing in front of him, in nothing but her underwear, was his Faunus slave, currently sweeping the hard wood floor with an old broom.

Haeley turned around and saw Simon in the doorway; he quickly shut the door behind him so nobody could steal a peak, but that didn't stop her from being wholeheartedly embarrassed.

She could feel his eyes passing over her entire body; her white canine ears, her beautiful face, her adequate bust, her slim figure, her white tail, her fine legs, all of which at the same time.

"Morning sweetheart." He said with a smile.

"You're a pervert." She answered.

"Excuse me?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Master…" She paused. "…is a pervert."

"Close enough." Simon laughed. He walked over to the desk and opened one of the drawers. He pulled out a bundle of clothes and handed them to her. "These are for you."

Haeley looked at the items in her hands; she recognized them as the school uniform. She looked up at Simon but he had walked out the door; she took this as her chance to get dressed.

After she was dressed she looked down at herself; the uniform fit perfectly. She exited the room and stood before Simon; who placed his hand on his chin and observed her.

"You look good." He said, slightly nodding his head.

"How do you know my measurements?" She asked him sternly.

"What makes you think I do?"

"These fit me perfectly; I know you are behind this." She said gesturing to her clothes.

"You sleep next to me every night; how would I _not_ know them?" He replied with a smirk. Simon turned and walked away from her. "Come on; let me show you around. Let's see where we can get before classes start."

* * *

Simon stopped Haeley outside of Port's class. "Listen; stay next to me, okay? The last thing we need is people asking who and why you are here before we've made up an answer." He told her.

Haeley nodded at him and smiled, before following him into the classroom.

As they entered the room all eyes turned to them; there weren't that many, luckily, the bell had just rung. In this class Simon's seat was at the back of the room in the corner; and the seat next to him had always been open. The two hurriedly walked to their seats and sat down.

A few minutes later they watched RWBY enter, followed by Port.

"Ah, hello again!" Port shouted with his usual enthusiasm. He scanned the room as RWBY took their seats.

 _Please please please please…_ Simon thought; he froze as Port's eyebrows passed over to his side of the room.

"And who is the fine young lady back there?" Port shouted.

 _FUCK!_ Simon looked around as he felt the entire class's eyes land upon him and his companion.

"Simon! Is this a friend of yours? Who is she? Come on introduce her!" Port yelled at him.

"And what if I didn't know her Port; huh, what then?" Simon said under his breath. He sat up and made sure Port could hear him when he spoke. "Sir this is Haeley; an old friend of mine. She'll be staying here until she can catch a ride back home." He said loudly. _That'll have to do I guess._

"Brilliant! Well then I hope the rest of the class won't mind if I told the tale of how I defeated a Deathstalker with my bare hands!" Port shouted; coaxing a long dramatic sigh from the class. "For you see…" Port continued ranting on and on and on and on andonandonandonand- oh, sorry.

Simon laid his head his desk and stared blankly across the room. His vision focused when a head joined his on the table.

"Hello Simon." Healey whispered to him.

"Hello sweetheart." He whispered back.

"So…" She attempted to come up with a conversation to take their mind off the lecture. "…come here often?"

Simon smiled at her. "Do you?"

"No." She giggled. "It's my first time."

"Is it now?"

"Mhm."

"I'll go easy on you then." Simon's smile widened as he gazed into Haeley's eyes.

With nothing else to say; the pair kept their heads on the table and looked into each other's eyes. Simon noticed Port had stopped talking; looking up from his current position he noticed Port was looking straight at him- well _in his direction_ ; it was hard to tell.

 _Fuck._

"Well Simon?" Port asked.

"I'm sorry sir could you repeat that?" He said. _This could only be bad._

"Would you mind telling me why you and your friend have been staring at each other for the past half hour?" Port asked him from the front of the room.

"We were merely marveling in your stories, sir." Simon said casually.

"Ah, really? And what did you think of them?" Port asked.

"Brilliant, sir." He replied.

"Of course they were! HAHA! Now what about the time when…" Port started another of his stories as Simon slid down is his chair.

"I see your smooth talking hasn't changed a bit." Haeley whispered to him.

"Nah, he just completely oblivious." Simon replied placing his head back on the table.

"I guess we'll have to do this later." Haeley said saddened.

"We'll have plenty of time later; let's just get through classes first." Simon smiled at her.

Their thoughts were interrupted by the bell. The students rose and stretched their limbs. As the class exited the room Simon and Haeley stayed near the back.

"Oh, and Simon?" Port said calmly to him as he passed.

"Yes sir?" Simon turned towards the teacher; but he didn't speak. Port simply raised his hand to his head and tapped his temple with his forefinger twice.

"Ha, understood sir; I will." Simon said to the large man before exiting the classroom.

 **Hey guys Dust here, I made this chapter to let you get a look inside Simon and Haeley's heads. I was also attempting a new writing style I like to call 'Taking My Time', I hope you enjoyed it as I didn't bullshit my way through the whole story. Anyway hope you enjoyed!**

 **That's all for this** _ **Outsider…**_


	13. Chapter 13

"Hey Simon." Ruby said as she sat down next to him at the lunch table.

"Hello Rose." He replied smiling at her. Haeley was on the opposite side of him and was currently focused on the book she was reading.

"Watcha reading Haeley?" Ruby asked as the rest of her team joined them.

"Oh it's nothing." Haeley said without looking up; Ruby noticed it was the same book from the day before.

"So…" The group began casual conversation. Every now and then someone would ask what was inside Simon's flask; and he'd avoid the question in its entirety. Eventually JNPR arrived and joined in on the small talk. Then someone reminded Ruby of their plans tonight.

"Oh, that's right we were going to have a sleepover!" She said excitedly. "Pyrrha, Nora, you guys wanna come?"

"Why not Jaune or Ren?" Pyrrha asked.

"Girls only." Yang replied.

"Oh, ok sure I'll come." Pyrrha said with a smile.

"Meee too!" Nora yelled, before stuffing her mouth with food.

"What about me?" The group turned to see Coco standing behind Simon. "Can I come?" She asked again.

"Umm, sure yea I guess you can. Is that why you came over here?" Yang said to the upperclassman.

"No I came over for something else." Coco responded glancing at Simon; who had his eyes closed and arms crossed since the group mentioned 'sleepover'.

"Go ahead." Simon told her. Coco placed her left hand on his shoulder and used her right to cover her moth as she whispered into his ear.

"But didn't you just invite yourself to their sleepover?" He asked; mostly likely in response to her words.

"…"

"Oh, ok; yeah sure."

"See you then." Coco told him walking away.

"What." The group said in unison. Simon pulled out his flask again and took a sip.

"It's nothing don't worry about it." He told them as he put away the silver container.

"No, it's not 'nothing'." Yang said. "The most popular girl in school just walked up to you and whispered in your ear."

"I think I know." Haeley felt nine pairs of eyes fall on her. "Tell me Simon; where were you this morning."

Simon looked at her intently, and smiled.

"Hahahaha," Simon stood from the table and walked away. "I think you'll find out tonight."

As he stepped out of the mess hall the class bell rung; the two teams looked at each other before following him to their classes.

"Simon and Lie Ren." Goodwitch called out to the class. The two combatants rose and proceeded to the locker rooms to prepare for their duel.

"Hey Simon?" Ren asked as he retrieved his weapons from his locker.

"Yes Lie." Simon responded from across the room.

"Would you mind using your weapon against me?" Ren asked closing his locker.

"Why?" Simon replied shutting his own. They walked to the door and stopped next to each other.

"I'd like to see how you fight with it; I'm sure everyone does." Ren told him. Simon brooded on his words.

"Ok, but you have to promise me something;" Simon said. "don't get upset when I beat you into the ground." He smiled.

"Of course." Ren responded returning the gesture. They walked back to class in silence. As they stepped into the arena the large overhead screen lit up with their information.

Simon reached up with his left hand and drew his blade. _Strange;_ Ren thought, _I could've sworn he was right-handed._

They heard a gasp from the crowd and everyone turned to Haeley; who wore a concerned expression.

"Begin!" Goodwitch shouted. Ren pointed his weapons at Simon and sprayed; but Simon didn't dodge, he ran through the gunfire letting his aura take the hits. When Simon was upon him, Ren leaped into the air over his opponents head; only to be followed.

Ren observed the next moments as if they were slowed. He watched Simon spin his blade around his body and slam the flat into Ren's chest; launching him downward. As Ren hit the ground he felt his Aura drain. _God he's strong; was he using his Semblance?_

Ren heard Goodwitch call the match; opening his eyes he saw Simon towering over him, his blade to his throat. Sheathing his weapon Simon held out his hand to his fallen companion; which they gladly accepted.

Ren looked up at the duel screen; his own Aura had a considerable chunk taking out of it, about a third; but Simon's… appeared to have not changed at all.

"You two may return your gear now." Goodwitch told them. "Next are Sky Lark and Nora Valkyrie."

"That is all the time we have for today; you are dismissed." Goodwitch told the class as the bell rang. The students got their stuff and left the room. Ruby watched Haeley storm off with Simon hurrying after her; it was obvious she was upset. Ruby told her team she'd catch up with them and followed after the pair.

Ruby followed them to one of the emptier parts of school. She was about to follow them around a corner when she heard a loud smacking sound. She poked her head around the corner and saw that Haeley had slapped her companion.

"Haeley…" He started.

"That was unbelievably reckless Simon!" Haeley yelled at him. Ruby was surprised at this new side of the Faunus.

"Haeley I-"

"Stuff it Simon! You could've killed him!"

"Haeley, listen-"

"I said SHUT IT!" Ruby watched as The Faunus's hair began to glow and rise into the air. "I can't believe that I'm the one who has to remind you-"

Ruby covered her mouth as she watched Simon force the Faunus into a deep kiss. After a few moments her hair returned to normal and she closed her eyes. Simon pulled away and caught her as she collapsed; he slowly lowered her to the floor and stayed next to her until she regained consciousness.

"Simon I'm sorry. It's just-" She said sitting up but he silenced her with his finger.

"Haeley I know it was dangerous; but while we're here you're going to have to trust me when it comes to things like this. Okay?" He looked into her eyes and she nodded. The two stood up and shared a hug.

Ruby pulled herself away from the corner and snuck off; she decided not to tell anyone about this. Ruby stopped running when she felt her scroll vibrate in her pocket; when she pulled it out she saw a message from Simon.

 _It's not very ladylike to eavesdrop like that Rose._

Ruby rose and walked to the door; when she opened it she saw Coco standing there with a small bag.

"How did you know where our room was?" Ruby asked the girl as she let her in.

"Simon gave me directions" She replied walking into the room. "Hello Velvet." Her teammate looked surprised to see her leader here.

"You guys invited her?" The bunny Faunus asked her hosts; she herself was typically invited to things like this by RWBY and JNPR.

"She kinda, invited herself; we just said yes." Blake told her.

"Anyway, now we just have to wait for Haeley." Yang said.

The entire group looked at the door.

"Damn that usually works." Yang said frustrated.

"So what do we do until she gets here?" Velvet asked.

"Hey Coco, what did you say to Simon at lunch?" Weiss asked; the group stared at her.

"Haha, well…" She was cut off when they heard a knock on the door. Ruby opened the door and saw Haeley standing before her; Simon was with her as well. When Haeley saw Ruby her face turned red and she averted her eyes.

After Haeley was in the room Ruby turned to Simon. "What's wrong with her?" She asked him.

"What do you think?" He answered raising his eyebrow.

"Hey Simon!" They heard a voice from inside the room.

"Hello again Coco."

"We're still on for tomorrow right?"

"Of course we are."

"See you then."

"To you as well." Their conversation ended as Simon walked away.

"Seriously; what are you two on about?" Yang asked.

"It's nothing; don't worry about it." Coco responded.

"Can I take a guess?" Haeley spoke up drawing eyes to her once more. "Does it have something to do with why Simon was missing when I woke up this morning?"

"Maybe."

"And is it going to be the reason that you're gone when we wake up?" Haeley continued. Coco smiled at her.

"Simon told me you would most likely be one to figure it out." She told the Faunus.

"I'd say I know him too well to not know about something like this." She spoke back with a smile of her own. "Can I feel your hair?"

"Of course you can." Coco sat up as she let the Faunus feel her hair.

"I knew it." Haeley said under breath. "Did you do anything else?"

"Not yet." She said as the girl sat down next to her. The group around them sat there speechless as the two talked back and forth.

"Can you just tell us already?!" Yang shouted at them.

"I don't think Simon would want you to now; at least not yet." Haeley said to them. "He'll tell you when you deserve to know. Until then however; Simon said I could answer _almost_ any question you have about him."

"Really?" Weiss asked her; the girl nodded back.

"Three questions each." Haeley said.

"What's his favorite color?" Nora wasted no time in asking questions; in fact the group was surprised she hadn't said anything yet.

"Phosphene." Haeley answered; when she saw the group's confusion she elaborated. "It's the color you see when your eyes are closed in a pitch black area."

"Favorite food?" Nora asked.

"Lemons."

"Favorite instrument?"

"Violin. That's three Nora no more questions." Haeley told her; Nora let out a long 'aww' when she was told this.

"Does he play an instrument?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yes."

"Which one?"

"He plays the violin and occasionally the piano." Her answer surprised the group a little but they shrugged it off.

"Does he have a girlfriend?" Yang asked. Haeley flashed Coco a look only she noticed.

"He does not."

"Out of all us girls here; who does he like the most." Weiss asked; they all gave her a questioning look but she ignored it.

"That's debatable currently."

"What's his favorite animal?" Pyrrha asked. Haeley pointed to her own ears. "Wolf?"

"Fox."

"What kind of fox has white fur?" Nora asked her.

"An arctic one."

"How'd he get his hands on a royal seal?" Weiss asked; thinking of his letter to Ruby.

"He's part of the royal family."

"How's he related to the King or Queen?" Weiss asked.

"That's three Weiss; he _is_ the King."

"WHAT!" The group let out multiple sounds of awe, before they began showering her with questions. It was a while before they calmed down enough for her to answer.

"If he is the King; how is he here?" Blake asked.

"He left the Queen in charge while he was gone."

"He's MARRIED?" Ruby shouted.

"Nononono; he and the queen were in an arranged marriage but they always hated each other, so when their parents died they called off the wedding and decided to rule through a partnership." Haeley explained.

"So he's not married." Ruby confirmed.

"No, he's not." The group talked back and forth about this new information before they started asking questions again.

"Is that why he has so many Faunus slaves?" Blake asked. Both velvet and Coco were taken back; Haeley explained to them the situation in her town.

"Oh ok, so how many does he have?" Velvet asked.

"Seventeen; including me."

"You're a slave? You don't look like one."

"He's never treated me like one; he's never treated any of his slaves like they were slaves. Except when they were being punished." Haely told her Faunus friend.

"Speaking of which; what did he do to you yesterday?" Blake asked.

"Is that your third question?"

"Sure, why not?"

"He didn't do anything yesterday; he couldn't think of anything."

"Not even like… put you in a maid's outfit or something?" Yang asked.

"He thought of that; but we didn't have any."

"Oh, so does he have a maid- no better question; does he have any fetishes?" Yang asked smiling.

"Well, he doesn't have a maid fetish if that's what you're asking…" Haeley said; her face blushed.

"But that's not what I'm asking." Yang replied to her.

"Umm, he does have a thing for legs…" Haeley responded.

"But I've never seen him looking at any of ours." Blake said aloud.

"Oh, he does; he just makes sure you don't see him doing it." Haeley explained; face still red.

"Any others?" Yang asked her.

"Oh, umm…" Haeley looked down at her hands and stayed quiet.

"Well…" Yang was now next the fox Faunus; leaning against her.

"No, not that I can think of." She said still looking down. "So, Ruby and Velvet have two more questions; Coco you have three."

"Why does he wear that strip of cloth on his hand?" Ruby asked.

"He uses it to hide a scar."

"Why?"

"I can't answer that." Haeley looked at Ruby.

"Ok, umm… Why me?" Ruby asked. "What would a King need with me?"

"In all honesty; he doesn't know." Haeley told her. "You're going to have to ask him for the details."

"How old is he?" Velvet asked; drawing attention to her.

"He is twenty I believe." Haeley waited as Velvet thought of her next question.

"On a scale of one to ten; how strong is he." Velvet asked; Haeley thought about the question for a minute or two.

"Ten." Haeley looked at her. "But only under certain conditions."

The group looked at each other in silence. Until they realized Coco hasn't asked anything yet.

"Coco?" Haeley asked her; the girl looked up from her thought and leaned towards Haeley. The group watched as Coco whispered in the Faunus's ear.

"No he's not…" Haeley's face reddened. "I-I wouldn't know... He's never told me how..." She gave three answers the rest of the group would never know the questions to.

A bit ironic if you ask me.

They harassed the two for the questions but they didn't tell. Eventually they gave up and instead decided to discuss what hey learned from the fox Faunus.

At some point someone mentioned sleep; which they all agreed to, and they settled down for the night.

Blake awoke to the sound of the door opening; she looked across the room and saw the silhouette of Coco leave the dorm and close the door silently behind her. _Tomorrow._ She thought before returning to her dreams.

 **Dust here, sorry if this chapter feels a bit rushed. Also; I have decided that the side story I'm doing with be a simple genderbend; Simon will be in it but this time he will be joining Beacon the same time RWBY did.**

 **Anyway, that's all for this** _ **Outsider…**_


	14. Chapter 14

**Dust here, sorry about the wait I've been busy with school and other stuffs.**

 **Anyway back to another _Outsider..._**

He sat on the roof, watching two of his new-found friends duel each other. Of course he knew that Pyrrha was doing this to help Jaune get better, and admittedly he was starting to.

Simon sat cross-legged next to the stairway door which led back down into the dorms, he'd come up here an hour ago and saw them fighting. They were good, Pyrrha obviously better but that's beside the point. He heard that Jaune was nowhere near even being called a warrior when he arrived at Beacon, but now…

He watched Jaune as parried Pyrrha's attack before following through with his own, but she blocked it with her shield. They were good, although there were many things he noticed _both_ of them could do better or more efficient, for their age they were good.

* * *

Block left. Swing right. He blocked. Thoughts raced through her mind as she and her leader fought. He was definitely improving, the first time they did this he had to stop after half an hour, now he could go on for three more. She knew that he was nowhere close to her level but he was twenty times better than when he arrived.

Their swords locked, she saw the muscles in his arm straining against her own. He held her there for much longer than he'd normally be able to, a testament to his increasing strength. Finally he gave in and she knocked the sword from his hand.

They stood silent for a minute, breathing heavily, before she regained her composure.

"Alright, I think that's enough for tonight." She saw a tired smile creep onto his face when she spoke. "You did good Jaune."

"But I know I can do better." She didn't find defeat in his words, it was more like… impatience.

"Jaune you're doing great, you've improved so much as well." She wasn't lying, if she didn't use her semblance he could most definitely hold his own against her, at least for a bit.

A sense of pride had filled her when she watched her leader slay an Ursa during the breach, and his duel in the Vytal Festival; which he would've won if he hadn't forgotten his opponent's weapon was also a gun. Though she wouldn't say it to his face, she doubted if he could kill an injured Beowolf before they started training.

She heard footsteps and turned towards them to see Simon approach the pair, two towels in hand.

"You two look exhausted." He spoke to them in a calm voice, a small smile, which they saw so often, tugged at his mouth as he gave them the cloths.

"How long have you been here?" Pyrrha asked him. She never heard the door open; she must have been caught up in her fight.

"A while. It seemed like you two were having fun so I didn't want to interrupt." He glanced back and forth between them. "Nikos would you mind if I spoke to Arc for a minute or two?"

She always wondered why he did that, using their last names. She didn't mind though, she didn't see why she would.

"Uhm, sure. Jaune I'll go on ahead." She said happily before heading towards the door.

* * *

"So, what'd you want?" Jaune asked as Pyrrha closed the door behind her. It was very rare that, well, _anyone_ wanted to talk to him privately.

"Do you really believe you can do this?" Jaune was taken back, and not just by his words. The smile that was always on his face vanished, replaced by something else; annoyance maybe.

Contrary to what everyone believed, Jaune was perceptive; he was perhaps one of the best at reading people's faces. He may not have been good at understanding what they're emotions meant, but that doesn't mean he didn't see them.

But as he looked at Simon's face, he saw nothing; no hint of emotion. To anyone else he would have been irritated, but Jaune noticed the small things; his stance, his mouth's neutral expression, and that the fact that Simon was attempting to read him as well. He wasn't annoyed he was… whatever he was; Jaune knew lying to him wouldn't help.

"I-I don't know, honestly. Pyrrha's been a great help and I really appreciate it but…" He sighed. "I feel that I'm being too much of a hassle. Before I came here I didn't even have my Aura unlocked; Pyrrha did that. My swordsmanship? My test scores? The fact that I'm still in this school? All Pyrrha."

Simon didn't move, only listened with that look on his face.

"What have I done for her? For anyone really. The entire time I've been here I've only been a nuisance!" He voice was slowly getting louder. "The only reason I'm alive is because Pyrrha saved me during initiation."

Simon looked away from him and stared at the shattered moon, now almost directly overhead.

"I don't deserve to be here." Jaune said under his breath.

"You don't." Jaune looked at Simon. "This is the top school in the world for training _Hunters_ , not boys who want to be heroes. People like me, not _you._ " He spoke the last word with a disgusted tone. "You could never be a hero Jaune; and Pyrrha's stupid for believing in you."

Jaune lost control of his arm as it shot up and grabbed the collar of Simon's shirt.

"You can insult me, but do _not_ insult my friends! Do not insult her!" Jaune yelled at him, he didn't care if he got beat; he wasn't going to let this asshole get away with that.

He smiled.

The comforting, calming smile reappeared of Simon's face as he let out a soft chuckle. Which turned into a full laugh when Jaune let go of him. After he regained composure he turned to face Jaune.

"Three parts broken, one part Hero." He walked forward and put his left hand on Jaune's shoulder. "You are one of the most promising people I have ever seen. You're swordsmanship is amazing, granted you had help from Pyrrha but most of your techniques I've never seen before; you came up with them all by yourself. Pyrrha is learning as much from you as you are from her." He spoke with a soothing voice, one that made all of Jaune's anger towards him fade away.

"On top of that your Aura is incredible. I can feel it just by being in the same room with you. Jaune you're an amazing person, Pyrrha believes this as well."

Jaune looked down at his feet. Was he? If he was why couldn't he see it?

"Do you trust me?" Jaune looked up at the question.

"Uhm, yes? Your whole thing just now makes me doubt you a little." Simon laughed.

"It happens, but do _you_ trust me?" He put emphasis on 'you' like he was trying to send Jaune a message, one that he couldn't understand.

"Yes."

"Then drop your Aura." Jaune's eyes widened at the request. He looked at Simon's face for a sign of sarcasm, dislike, something that could make his decision easier; but all he saw was caring, and calm.

Did he trust Simon? He could have just been saying this stuff so Jaune would place trust on someone who didn't deserve it. Someone who would use the opportunity maliciously.

Then a thought occurred: he could just tell the others that Simon hurt him if he did, and if Simon wanted to kill him it would be an easy feat even if his Aura was up.

"Okay." This could be the worst mistake of his life, a life that could end very soon. He left out a long sigh of relief as the burden of his Aura was lifted of his shoulders.

Everything felt lighter; the constant strain of keeping an Aura up took a lot out of Hunters. But for Jaune, it was different; his immense Aura has its own ups and downs. He wouldn't get tired as fast as other Hunters, but when he let it down; it took much longer for him to regenerate and left him feeling drained for a longer time.

"You good?" Simon's voice drew him from his drunken-like stupor.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." Shaking himself back into reality, he stood uncertainly before his black-clad companion.

"How do you feel?" Simon's voice was caring, but inquisitive.

"Vulnerable. Naked, I guess." Jaune tried to pick accurate words for the feeling.

"Really? Huh." Simon thought for a second before reaching towards him. "Hold still."

Simon placed his left hand on Jaune's shoulder then the other over the boy's heart. Simon closed his eyes and a soft warmth filled Jaune's body. It was welcoming, calm, and caring; a loving heat. A light glowed from under the cloth on Simon's hand. As soon as it appeared; it vanished. Simon pulled away from Jaune and opened his eyes.

"You have a wonderful Semblance Jaune." For a second time Jaune was taken back.

"You know what my Semblance is? What is it?" Jaune spoke loudly, begging Simon for his knowledge.

"You don't know? You've used it already." Simon gave him a confused smile.

"I have?"

"Indeed. But if you don't know it, I can't tell you." Simon had a smug smile on his face, with much more than a hint of pity.

"Can you just like, I don't know, give me a hint?" Jaune pleaded.

"I guess I could." Simon said, walking towards the door. "Your hint is…" He opened the door, pausing in the doorway. "Clarity." He said finally, leaving Jaune to brood on his cryptic words.

* * *

Haeley let out stifled moans and heavy breaths as immense pleasure flowed through her. The heat of her body only increased when it met the warmth of the object beneath her. She sat up and gazed at the figure under her, she had straddled his waist and was now tracing one of the many scars on his chest with her finger. Her eyes crawled up his body; from his chest to his shoulder, where her head had rested a moment before, to his face, to his eyes…

What was she doing?

His eyes were shocked but full of concern. Her hands shot to her mouth as she whispered.

"I'm sorry." His face relaxed at the words and he simply gazed into her eyes.

"How long?" Was he asking he long she'd been doing this? No, he probably knew that already. He was asking her how long she'd been like this.

"As long as I can remember." He pushed himself up and she moved, allowing him to get off the bed.

"Haeley, I know what it's like to want to keep a secret like this but…" He stood up, only to stumble forwards and prop himself up against the desk. "If it means waking up one night to see you on top of me like that; I'd prefer you tell me."

He made his over to a basin they filled with water in case of emergencies. He took the rag that lay next to it and began cleaning himself off. Haeley noticed his legs trembling under his shorts. She must've drained a lot of energy from him.

"Somebody back home knows about this right? Who?"

"Dust."

"Thought so." The brief exchange of words returned to silence again, making Haeley feel more guilt than she should have.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I thought you would push me away if I told you. Everyone else I've known has."

"Except Dust." She looked up at him. "Haeley I am one of the most reasonable people you'll ever meet. I wouldn't care if you were literally the Devil; I would still make a deal with you."

She couldn't help but smile at his analogy; he always was one for extreme comparisons.

"How long have you wanted mine?" He didn't look at her, simply kept his eyes on his work.

"Since the first night." She heard a long whistle.

"And how was it?" He turned towards her and let the rag drop into the water.

"Better than anyone else's." She cast her eyes downwards and flattened her ears against her head. Simon smiled at her embarrassment and sat down next to her before bringing her into a hug, which she gratefully accepted.

"The Dynamic Duo." He laughed; she didn't get the joke but merely took comfort in the hypnotic sound of his heart beating in his chest.

* * *

"Your Grace." She glanced over to her personal adviser as he lowered his head.

"You may speak." She responded, he returned his eyes to her and stepped forward.

"It seems I have grave news, Madam." He said clearly, she raised an eyebrow and he continued. "It is about the Wraith; the creature you sent to Remnant."

"Ah yes, I remember. How is she?"

"She has made a large amount of progress since her first attempt…"

"But?"

"Um… The item you gave her, a book I believe, has been stolen. Until this point she used it as a blueprint of sorts for her endeavors." He seemed nervous about the information; obviously there was more.

"Stolen by whom?" The Empress asked.

"A female Faunus. She was accompanied by five persons, four were huntresses in training. In regard of the threat our Wraith temporarily abandoned her nest. She watched the girl retrieve the book before they left."

"Was there any reason why she did not make any attempt to take it back?" The Empress' knuckles turned white as she clenched the arm of her throne.

"O-Of course, your Highness." The Adviser quickly replied. "That is where the fifth companion becomes an issue. It appears the girl is under the protection of a Sign."

"Which one?" She asked, letting out a long, irritated sigh.

"This one, I'm afraid." The adviser handed her a tablet. The item consisted of a large rectangular crystal, covered on all sides but one with black stone.

The Empress' eyes widened with hatred at the familiar sight of the black trench coat. The granite arm of her throne shattered under her grip.

"The one time… Where is he now?" She asked the adviser, who was trying his best to remain calm.

"He is taking refuge at a huntsman academy in the central Kingdom of Vale. The girl and the book are there as well." He said calmly.

 _Damn him, Damn him to Hell._

"Your Highness if I may." The adviser said carefully.

"Continue."

"It seems as if the girl is adding things to the book." She looked up at his words. "We have detected writing but we cannot tell what it is about."

"What are you implying?"

"I believe that if we give her time, say we have the Wraith set up a more permanent base, in the time it will take for us to get the item back, she will have done our work for us."

She thought on his words, indeed it could be helpful, save them a lot of time. However she couldn't help but feel as if…

"You are correct. We will go with your plan. Have the Wraith set up a base in the nearby forest, someplace out of sight. Let us see what the girl can do for us." The Empress spoke proudly.

"Of course Madam." The adviser bowed and turned.

"And Jet?" He turned back to face his Queen as she spoke. "Good work."

He bowed once more before leaving her to herself.

 _One of these days I'm going to catch you off guard; prepare yourself Simon._

 **Dust here again; so there you go, two new side arcs as well as the next step in the main. Now as you may have noticed updates wont be as frequent but I'll still be working on new chapters constantly. I hope to get at least two out during Thanksgiving break and hopefully three or four during Christmas but who knows.**

 **Thanks for all the support!**

 **That's all for this** ** _Outsider..._**


	15. Chapter 15

Simon woke to find himself in a forest. Looking around, his eyes fell on to a small house. It was secluded and there were no sign of civilization anywhere near him. The house was made of wood and had a stone chimney rising out of the roof.

 _This is my old house. Why am I here?_

He noticed two things right of the bat; one, the house was still standing, he knew his real home was burned to the ground, which meant this was a dream. Two, there was smoke coming out of the chimney, which meant someone still lived here.

" _Simon!_ " He heard a woman's voice, she spoke in the Old language but he had no problem understanding it. " _Time for dinner sweetheart!_ "

" _Okay Ma!_ " Simon turned to the second voice; a small child, five years old perhaps, rested ten feet above in a tree. He knew the child was his younger self but he still couldn't understand why he was here, in this time frame. Unless…

He turned and walked into the house, what he saw hardly surprised him. His mother stood at the dinner table, his father was reading a rather large book in a wooded chair by the lit fireplace.

" _Ma, I'm here!_ " His younger self called out as it walked through his current body. His mother turned towards him and everything became clear. His mother's face was covered in shadow; the only detail was a mouth that loosely resembled her words.

 _Of course, an Omen._

Omens were based off of an individual's memories; that was how he knew about Ruby's dream. The ring had to be something she had seen before; if it was a normal dream she would've had a more popular ring on her finger. The shadow was also a good sign; it meant that whoever saved her she hadn't met yet.

In the current situation, he could tell because he didn't know his parents very well. If he were to guess, this memory took place a few days before they were killed; and because he couldn't remember how they actually looked their faces were covered. The paintings on the walls were also gave it away, he now noticed they were burned and torn. They resembled the paintings among the ashes of his house in the present day.

Simon stood by the door and watched his younger self and his family eat dinner, which was made entirely out of black mush, because he couldn't remember what it actually was.

Everyone in the room looked up when there was a knock at the door. Simon watched his father rise and answer it.

" _Ah, you're here. We were just in the middle of dinner; would you like to join us?"_ His father spoke quickly but calmly.

" _Sorry, I'm just here for Simon, I'm afraid I don't have much time._ "

" _Of course, of course. Simon, could you come over here for a moment?_ " The young Simon rose from the table a walked cautiously over to the door.

As the young Simon passed by the door the stranger materialized outside of the house. He wore a suit and had a dark blue scarf wrapped around his neck, a black cane rested in his right hand.

" _Hello there._ " The stranger said, he crouched down to eye level with young Simon.

" _Who are you?_ " Simon asked.

" _My name matters not. What does matter is my gift to you._ " He reached into his suit and pulled out a small piece of paper. He turned it over several times before handing it to Simon. Simon peered over his younger self's shoulder onto the paper. On one side was a circle with a septagram in the middle, on the other side was the symbol he wore on his back.

 _So that's where I got it from._

 **(AN: A Septagram; also known as a heptagram, is the same as a pentagram but with seven points instead of five.)**

" _Both of those symbols will be useful to you one day, I just hope that it isn't someday soon._ " The stranger said as he stood up. " _I would love to stay but I'm afraid my time is up, I wish you two the best of luck. And Simon?_ " They looked at him. " _Do try to stay out of trouble._ " He gave a hearty smile.

" _Will I see you again?_ " The young Simon spoke up.

" _Oh, I'm sure you will; but whether or not you know it's me, that part is up to you._ " His head turned to the left, towards Simon; who was taken aback by the gesture.

 _Did he know I'd be here?_

" _Well I'll be off. Take care now._ " He turned and headed off into the woods. The world melted away into darkness as the door closed.

Simon opened his eyes, again, but this time all he saw was darkness. He waited for his eyes to adjust before looking around. He was back in his room; suddenly there was a light behind him. He turned and saw Haeley at the desk.

He rose from the bed and walked up behind her. She jumped when he placed his hands on her shoulders. He was surprised he was able to sneak up on her; you know, because of the whole Faunas thing, he'd never caught her of guard like that before.

"You okay?" He asked her as she calmed herself.

"You just surprised me is all. Why are you awake?" She picked up a pencil and began to write in some book.

"Bad dream… What are you doing?" He rested his chin on her head and gazed down on her work.

"Dust said she would make me a set of armor that would suit my… talents; on the condition that I have to design it. I'm using this book as practice." She flipped back a few pages to show detailed drawings of armor. Most of them were sketched over the original drawing, improvements of sorts; others held details on how to properly smith the pieces.

"Impressive sweetheart." Simon said, he was surprised at her armor expertise as well as her drawing skills; although he did notice many of them had been redone several times.

"It's nothing really. You said you had a bad dream? What was it about?" She asked as she returned to her work.

"It was an Omen actually." She laid her pencil down and gazed up at him. "At least it resembled one, Omens normally happen in the future but this one took place before my parents were killed."

"What happened?" Haeley asked, more curious than before.

"Well…" Simon sat down on the bed. "Apparently some stranger came to visit me a few days before my parents died and gave me a 'gift', it seemed like my parents knew he was coming."

"Do you know who he was?"

"No, he said we'd meet again someday, but whether or not I knew him was up to me."

"Sounds like something you would say." Haeley replied calmly.

"That's what worries me. It seems like he influenced the way I act but I can't think of anyone I spent a lot of time with that resembles him."

"You'll figure it out. You always do." She said smiling.

"I'm not so sure this time sweetheart… What time is it?" Simon asked standing up. Haeley looked around for the scroll Ozpin had lent her.

"Two in the morning. Where are you going?" She answered.

"I think I'm gonna go take a shower." He answered putting on his coat.

"O-oh… Okay see you later…" She turned back to her work, but the ears on her head gave away her thoughts. Simon sighed at her.

"What is it?"

"Uh? O-oh nothing." She glanced at him but didn't hold eye contact. Simon walked up beside her and gently pulled on her chin so she looked up at him.

"Haeley." He blinked and felt his eyes change, when she looked at him he saw her shoulders relax; he knew he had her. "What's wrong?"

"I-I-I w-…" She stuttered but the words didn't come out. He pulled away from her and his eyes returned to normal. She let out a long sigh as he let go of her.

"Haeley…" He placed his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry I did that and I know it hurts but please, I hate seeing you like this."

"I know, I know. I'm sorry I don't know why I did that, nothing's wrong really. My mind just went blank." She smiled at him and stood up. They stared at each other for a moment before she hugged him.

"Alright, I'll be back in a little bit." He walked towards the door and she waved at him as he left.

Haeley stared at the door for a few seconds before she returned to her book.

* * *

Ruby quickly grabbed her breakfast then hurried after her team. As usual, Simon and Haeley were already sitting down at the table; they never really ate much so they always got to sit down before them. Haeley had an apple in her hand as she read some book, while Simon had a glass full of what looked like lemonade.

As Ruby sat down she saw that Simon was just sitting there with his eyes closed, not really doing anything.

"Simon?" He looked up at Ruby's question. "What are you doing?"

"Waiting." He said plainly, before closing his eyes again.

"Uhm, for what?" he answered the question by pointing at the door as Pyrrha entered the room, with the rest of her team struggling to keep up. She quickly hurried over to the table and threw her hands down causing everyone to jump at the sudden noise.

"What is it!?" She yelled, it seemed as if she was mad at Simon.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Simon answered calmly as he took a drink from his cup.

"Jaune's semblance, what is it!?" She yelled again, the tables around them heard her and all turned to see what was happening.

"Oh that." Simon said in a soft tone. "Yeah I can't answer that."

"Why not?" Pyrrha and her team sat down at the table.

"Did it ever to you that perhaps I was lying?" He asked, taking another drink of his beverage.

"Wait, you were lying?" Jaune spoke up as he gave Simon a sad look.

"No, but I'm surprised that you would just blindly accept that I know what it is." He answered as he finished his drink. "They have really good lemonade here."

"You told him that he'd already used it before, right?" Simon nodded at Pyrrha's question. "Then when?"

"About… the end of last summer…ish." He said thinking back.

"I'm sure I would have realized if something happened." Jaune said trying to remember what he did last summer.

"Whoa, okay hold on… Somebody please explain what's going on." Weiss said loudly, irritated that she was being kept in the dark.

"Last night Simon told Jaune that he's already used his semblance once but refuses to tell us what it is." Ren explained.

"How could he possibly know that?" Weiss asked

"I come from a place almost completely secluded from the rest of the world, for all you know we could have pet dragons." Simon said sarcastically.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Weiss asked crossing her arms.

"What I'm trying to say is; it's possible that we have discovered a way to find out a person's semblance and you guys not know about it." Simon answered. He attempted to take another drink but remembered that his cup was empty.

"Okay, but is there a reason that you can't tell us what Jaune's is?" Blake asked him.

"It's dangerous to know what your semblance is before you've discovered it yourself. For example; say you find out your semblance is that you can fly, so you jump off a building to get it to activate." He said. "I think you can guess what happens next."

"Is there some way you can help me figure it out?" Jaune asked.

"I'm sorry what did you just say?" Simon furrowed his eyebrows at Jaune.

"Uhh… can you help me figure it out?" He repeated. The group looked at Simon, who was just staring at Jaune.

"Y-yes, yeah… I can… for a price." Simon seemed stunned by what Jaune had said.

"You want me to pay you?"

"No, no, sorry if that was misleading. A favor for a favor." He explained.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Not yet, I want to see if I can actually help you before I have you do anything." Simon told him.

"Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm…"

…

"Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm…"

…

"Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm…"

"Haeley?" She looked up and saw everyone just staring at her. "You okay?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine." She said happily. They knew she wasn't though, her ears were flat and her face was a bright pink.

"Hey." Simon leaned in towards her. "Are you feeling alright?"

She scooted closer to him and whispered in his ear.

"You're…" She nodded at him. "So this morning…" She nodded again. "Okay, well you should've told me sooner, come on."

Simon stood up from the table and pulled Haeley up with him.

"We'll meet you guys later." Simon called out. He held Haeley's shoulders as she stared at the floor and tucked her tail between her legs.

"What…" The group watched them as they left the cafeteria.

"What do you think that was all about?" Yang asked.

* * *

Haeley let out a long sigh as she finished her drink.

"That feels better…" She said as she handed the cup back to Simon.

"Next time tell me _before_ we leave the room, okay?"

"Yeah, it just sort of slipped my mind…" She glared at him as he sat next to her. "So; why are you fucking with Jaune?"

"I'm not." He answered.

"Bullshit. You were never able to pull that off before, what are you up to?" She poked his chest several times.

"Okay, I wasn't able to pull of the read… buuuut, I do know what his semblance is." He said unsurely.

"And how do you know that." Haeley eyed him suspiciously.

"I got my hands on the footage from initiation at the beginning of the year." He said as he fell back onto the bed. "There were some… _inconsistencies_ …"

"One of these days you're going to be wrong; and it's going to get someone killed." Haeley responded as she crossed her arms.

"And that day is not today." He said as he sprung up from the bed. "Come on we have Oobleck today."

"You should totally let him try some of your coffee one of these days." Haeley said loudly.

"DEAR GODS NO!"

 **Whoa, did Dust just _post_ something? Yeah sorry for the wait, _BUT_ I should be able to start updating regularly now; _AND_ I know exactly what I'm going to do for the next chapter. So yay. Anyways, I'm back; and I'm happy to be.**

 **That's all for this _Outsider..._**


	16. Chapter 16

_Sometimes I wonder what I've done in a past life to deserve this._

The thought entered Simon's mind as he laid his head on the desk in front of him. He sat in Oobleck's classroom as the hyperactive teacher sped around the room, never staying in one place for more than five seconds.

Originally he entertained himself by playing with Haeley's ears; he often found it amusing when she would twitch them in an attempt to remove herself from his grasp. But after ten minutes of that he had found himself bored. Again.

 _Can_ _ **anything**_ _happen to lighten the mood?_

As if on cue, there was a knock on the door. The entire class raised their heads and looked towards Oobleck.

"I wasn't informed of any visitors…" He said to himself as he straitened his glasses. "Come in."

As the door opened a woman stepped in. She had blonde hair tied into a braid. She wore a long white skirt and a bright yellow corset which went over a white long sleeved dress shirt. In comparison to her beautiful dress however, her face looked like she'd been through hell.

Her face was covered in scars, some seemed newer than others. Her right eye was fogged over, most likely a side effect of the scar that stretched from her forehead to below her jaw line. Her other eye quickly scanned the class. She held a wry expression that brought an eerie feeling to the room.

"Can I help you?" Oobleck asked the woman. She didn't answer.

Her eyes landed on what she was looking for and she began walking towards Simon. At this point he noticed the large black case she held in her right hand.

"Um, excuse me?" Oobleck kept trying to get the woman's attention, and she kept ignoring him.

The woman stopped in front of Simon and placed the black case on the table in front of him. She then placed a letter on the case and began do leave the room.

"Do I now you?" Simon immediately regretted his question; as she turned towards him her face held nothing but hate, and disgust.

She raised her hand and touched her right eye, before abruptly turning away and proceeding out the door.

"Simon, do you know that woman?" Oobleck turned to the boy as he examined the case.

"No, I've never seen her before." Simon answered, picking up the envelope.

"Hmm, strange indeed." Oobleck took a sip of his coffee. "Now, as I was saying…"

As Oobleck picked up class again, Simon opened the letter.

It read as such:

 _Outsider,_

 _Every innocent has demons,_

 _And one is about to make herself VERY clear._

 _This should help._

 _S.R._

He sighed, usually when someone called him The Outsider it meant something was going to happen that was completely out of his control.

Simon placed the letter inside his coat and opened the case.

Inside was the most beautiful instrument he'd ever seen. A black violin, it glistened in the light and felt like it had scales. The strings were a blood red, as was the hair that made up the bowstrings.

The sight gained reactions from the students around him and he decided it was best to close the case for now. Simon spent the rest of the class rereading the letter.

 _S.R.?_

He didn't anyone with those initials.

"Simon, a word please." Oobleck's words brought him out of thought; the bell had rung and people were leaving the room.

"Professor I told you, I don't know who she was." Simon approached his desk in confusion.

"It's not that, this is about… something else…"

* * *

"It's not that, this is about… something else…" Ruby caught bits of the discussion from where she was standing near the door.

Oobleck showed Simon a picture, who shook his head. They shared a few more words before Simon returned to his seat to grab his belongings.

"What was that all about?" Ruby asked, pointing to the case as he approached.

"No clue. Although I am very interested in finding out how this plays." He replied, referring to the instrument.

"Oooo, can I watch you play?" Ruby said excitedly.

"Sure thing Rose, after classes though." Ruby groaned at his words but didn't argue.

"So… Are you good?" She asked as they walked to their next class.

"Hmm?" Simon looked down at her, and she pointed to the case. "Oh, I'd say I'm pretty good."

"More like the best actually." Haeley joined the conversation and stood opposite of Ruby.

"Don't set her expectations too high please." Simon responded to the praise. "The last thing I want is to disappoint her."

"The only reason you got into the royal family is because of your skills with the violin." Haeley answered with a smile. "Kat told me she only agreed to the marriage so she could have you play for her all the time."

"Kat?" Ruby asked out of curiosity.

"Kathrine Kissmire, current Queen of the place we're from." Simon explained.

"She rules more like an Empress actually. And that new advisor she got right after you left seems strange." Haeley said.

"New advisor?" Simon raised an eyebrow at her.

"Yeah, a week after you left he showed up; I can't remember his name though. I think it starts with a J." Haeley replied, searching her memories for the man's name.

"We'll talk more about this later." Simon said as they neared Goodwitch's class.

"And _we…_ " He tugged on Haeley's ear. "Are going to discuss what happens when you can't keep that mouth of yours in check."

He stopped before the doorway and stared into the room blankly.

"Simon?" Haeley asked as she massaged her ear.

"It's nothing." He responded before entering the room.

The trio sat down next to the rest of team RWBY as the bell rang. Goodwitch stood near the front of the stage and called for the class's attention.

"Alright today we will be doing standard tournament style matches. First match will be…" Goodwitch took a second to look at her scroll. "Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee."

It was fairly rare that partners were to duel each other in Goodwitch's class; but that wasn't what Ruby was worried about.

It'd been a week or so since the nightmare she had, she was pretty much over it by now but she still had an awkward feeling about facing Weiss.

"You okay?" She felt Simon's hand on her shoulder. "You know, the dream and all that." He gave her a concerned look.

"Its fine, I'm okay now." He nodded at her but kept his hand on her for another moment or two before letting her go.

* * *

The fight was going well for the reaper; the last time she checked she had Weiss' aura down to about half, while her own was still around the three quarter mark.

She had gotten to know Weiss enough that she was able to roughly predict her attacks, she was confident that the fight was hers.

She saw Weiss place a glyph under her feet and knew she would try for some sort of aerial attack. Ruby raised the Crescent Rose just above her chest in case she needed to block.

But the Heiress didn't jump, she instead sped forward, her rapier held in front of her.

Ruby attempted to dodge but couldn't, as if her feet were nailed to the ground. She moved her scythe in an attempt to block; but Weiss moved at the last second and bypassed Ruby's defense.

Ruby's eyes widened as she felt a sharp pain in her stomach. Weiss quickly withdrew her weapon, now covered in a red liquid.

The Crescent Rose clattered to the floor; Ruby moved her shaky hands to her abdomen and looked down. Her hands and clothes were quickly stained with blood.

"Why…" She whispered, almost to herself. But she quickly raised her voice. "Why would you…"

The Reaper froze when she saw the expression of triumph on the Heiress' face.

"You always thought you were better than me." Weiss said, her words drenched in venom. "This is what you get for letting your guard down.

Ruby backed away from her partner; not she could call her that any more. As she moved backwards she tripped over something.

She looked at the object that was now before her. Yang.

"No, not again." She heard someone call her name and looked towards the noise. She was no longer at Beacon, she was there, in the plains again. Countless Grimm crept towards her, she pushed herself away from them but found herself with her back against a large boulder.

She shut her eyes and covered her ears. She sat there, as the Grimm came closer, weeping with nowhere to go.

"No no no no no no. Stop it. Make it stop! STOP IT! LEAVE ME ALONE!" She screamed, unable to do anything but. "GO AWAY!"

 _Rose. Rose look at me. Rose!_

She ignored the voices. She wanted them to go away. Suddenly, she felt a hand wipe away her tears.

"Ruby." She looked up at the voice. Simon was crouched in front of her, his hand on her cheek. He smiled at her. It wasn't like Weiss', it wasn't sinister. It was caring.

She looked at him with pleading eyes. He wiped the tears from the other side of her face. It was him, the real Simon. She leapt forward and hugged him; burying her face in his chest, she clung to the only Semblance of Reality in this Nightmare of Hers.

"Simon please, make it stop." She cried to him. "Make them go away."

"I will dear Rose, but I can't do that without your help." He whispered into her ear.

"I can't fight." She whimpered. Simon let out a small laugh, one that somehow warmed her heart.

"I don't need your blade sweetheart; I need your eyes."

"My… eyes?" She attempted to open them, but her face was still buried in his chest.

"There's something behind me isn't there?" She raised her head and peeked over his shoulder. The air was stolen from her lungs as her eyes focused.

"I need you to describe it, Rose." But she couldn't speak, let alone form sentences of what she saw. "I can't pull you from this nightmare without knowing what it looks like. Do your best sweetheart, I'm right here. It wouldn't dare touch you."

It was a Grimm; that was a start at least. Of course it was black, but it didn't have fur, it was skin. It had three sets of thin arms, two of which had large scythe-like blades which curved back towards its body. The third set had hands with long claws. Its legs were like a beowolf's, except much larger, causing it to tower over her and Simon. It had a long tail which was covered in scales.

"Its face sweetheart, you've done well but I need its face too." Following his instructions Ruby looked at its face.

It had a human-like round head, it lacked any form of nostril and its mouth wrapped all the way around its face.

"Thank you Rose. Now, look at me." He pulled her away from him but she couldn't take her eyes off of the creature. "Me, Rose. My eyes."

Ruby looked at him but as she did so the creature opened its mouth and let out a blood-curdling screech.

Ruby slammed her eyes shut and placed her hands over her ears; but its voice passed straight through them. She began to scream herself, the creature's voice causing blood to flow from her ears.

"Ruby… look at me…" She couldn't hear Simon anymore. Her ears felt like they were going to explode. She felt his hands on her cheeks again.

"RUBY ROSE!" His voice no longer sounded human, but it got her attention. She looked into his eyes and watched them change. She watched as the black ring invaded the white of his iris, creating a single black dot in each of his eyes.

The world around her melted away, until it was just her and Simon, together in a black abyss. But eventually even he faded away, and she was alone.

But soon the loneliness was replaced with another feeling; acceleration. Slowly the abyss, became no more; substituted by an orange sky, a setting sun, land.

Land that was getting closer very quickly. Ruby realized she was falling towards a world unfamiliar to her.

The many questions she had were shoved aside by the fear that filled her body. All she knew was that she was there; free falling into unknown lands.


	17. Chapter 17

**Hey guys, Dust here again…**

 **I'll be honest; Chapter 17 has technically been done for almost 4 months, but I'm kind of afraid to post it.**

 **The main reason being; it's the first turning point of the story, the first time I show just how… IDK…** _ **Complex**_ **, I guess you could say, this story really is; or how much it's going to be.**

 **This isn't some story that just** _ **popped**_ **into** **my** **head; it's been hammered out, refined, and ground to a point. I've been working on it for** _ **years**_ **before RWBY even came out; but the characters and world just fit** _ **so well**_ **, I just couldn't pass up the chance to see how they'd react with it; how well they'd** _ **combine**_ **.**

 **I'll admit RWBY was very influential on the story once it was released, but compared to what had already been established… Well, you get my point.**

 **So bottom line:**

 **From here on out, the characters of RWBY may seem a bit OOC, simply because they are playing roles they weren't meant to fill, in a world they weren't designed for. I've changed the original premise a lot to make it more compatible with the RWBY story and world, but the foundations are still blatantly obvious. I don't want to post it because once I do, I wont want to change it; I don't want there to be any mistakes, or worse** _ **spoilers**_ **, that could destroy the story later on…**

 **Thank you for reading, and I hope you understand;**

 **Hope to be back soon,**

 **Simply** **Dust**

* * *

 **Hello again, I'm back; finally.**

 **Just a heads up, there is… a lot to take in in this chapter, a bit more than I'd like really but I'll deal with it. Right now I just want to get this chapter out of the way.**

 **I'm going to leave the previous message up for the people who haven't read it so they have an idea about what I'm doing.**

 **I'm still scared about posting this but… I want to continue this story** _ **soo**_ **bad.**

 **Anyway I hope you enjoy this clusterfuck of a chapter.**

 **Finally, back to another** _ **Outsider...**_

* * *

Weiss sat in the infirmary next to Ruby's bed, Simon was opposite of her.

When they arrived the doctors quickly moved to treat the red reaper, after a few minutes they informed the duo that she had slipped into a coma, and weren't sure if there was even a possibility that she could wake up. Her heartbeat was irregular and the rest of her body showed no signs of activity.

The many times the nurses suggested having her moved to a proper hospital, Simon stared them down. Whenever Weiss attempted to ask him why, or what had happened to her partner, a sense of dread filled her stomach as she opened her mouth.

The rest of her team as well as team JNPR presumably waited outside. Weiss was allowed to stay with because she was her partner. Simon was the one who carried her here, and refused to leave her.

The Heiress thought back to what had happened that got them in this situation...

* * *

She couldn't take much more than this, Weiss was tiring quickly. Usually in fights it was her speed that gave her an edge, but no one is faster than her leader.

Still though; she refused to believe she was going to lose because of a lack of skill, instead she decided to blame her bad luck.

She figured her best bet was to use a surprise attack. She placed a glyph under her feet and saw the Reaper raise her weapon.

Just like she wanted her to.

Weiss launched herself forward but her weapon stopped a few feet short of her target. The Heiress looked on in confusion.

Black rings erupted from the tip of her rapier and surrounded Ruby in a spherical shape. Almost as if she was covered by…

"A force-field?" Weiss said to herself. A slight whistling noise could be heard as the rings began to move faster.

"Weiss! Get back!" She saw that Simon had risen out of his seat and was yelling at her. "Move!"

There was a flash of light as Weiss' weapon was ripped from her hand. She screamed as the burst of energy ripped the fabric off of her arm and instead covered it with small cuts.

Weiss looked up when she heard the Crescent Rose clatter to the floor. Ruby placed her hand over her stomach, as if she were in pain.

"Why…" Weiss heard her say. "Why would you…"

Ruby looked at Weiss with fear and began to back away from her partner. Then she tripped, seemingly over nothing; she looked at the ground in front of her as tears began to form in her eyes.

"No, not again." She said as she stared at the floor.

"Ruby? What's wrong?" Weiss saw that Yang had stood up and was calling out to her sister.

Ruby looked towards her sister, but didn't say anything. Slowly Ruby scooted away from the class until her back was up against the wall. She covered her ears and closed her eyes as she began to cry.

"No no no no no no. Stop it. Make it stop! STOP IT! LEAVE ME ALONE!" Ruby began to scream causing all of the students to rise from their seats. "GO AWAY!"

A loud frantic beeping could be heard overhead. Weiss looked up at the score board and saw Ruby's aura depleting rapidly. Within a few seconds it was completely gone, a red outline surrounded Ruby's figure. Something that usually only happened when the person was suffering from severe aura depletion, a deadly threat to all hunters and huntresses.

"Ruby!" Yang shouted from her seat and she ran into the arena. However she couldn't get close to her sister because of the force-field.

Several teams made their way into the arena unsure of what to do. Weiss watched in shock as her partner sat alone against the wall, just crying.

Weiss felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Simon force his way through the crowd. He approached Ruby and walked straight through the barrier protecting her.

"Rose. Rose look at me. Rose!" He tried to get her attention but she ignored him. He looked back at the students surrounding them and sighed. He crouched down and moved closer to Ruby, he reached out with one hand and wiped the tears from her face.

"Ruby." He said in a soft voice, surprising almost everyone. Ruby opened her eyes and looked up at him. He used the same hand to wipe her other cheek before she jumped at him, burying her face in his chest.

"Simon please, make it stop." She cried. "Make them go away."

"I will dear Rose." He hugged her tightly before whispering in her ear.

They spoke back and forth. The students around them stood there quietly, unsure of what to do.

Suddenly Ruby peeked over Simon's shoulder, after a few more words he pulled away from her.

"Me, Rose. My eyes." Simon said to her, but she covered her ears and started to scream. After a few seconds blood began to pour through her hands.

"Ruby, look at me. Ruby!" Simon yelled attempting to calm her down but she didn't stop. He put his hands on her cheeks and yelled at her. "RUBY ROSE!"

She looked at him as his voice filled the room. Her eyes rolled back and she collapsed in Simon's arms.

* * *

 _Right._ Weiss thought; after that Simon carried her to the infirmary and refused to leave her.

Weiss decided to stay as well, after the nurses patched up her arm.

"Um, Simon?" Weiss called to him. He looked at her, sadness in his eyes. "What… Will she be okay?" He looked at Ruby before returning to her.

"That's up to Ozpin." He said sadly.

"What? How?" She asked confused.

"I can wake her up, yes. But in order to do that I need to get into the Emerald Forest." He replied.

"And… And if he says no?" She asked, afraid of the answer.

"Try me." Simon responded, without breaking eye contact.

Weiss looked at her partner; she felt that feeling again, she wanted to ask why, but couldn't…

Why was Ruby surrounded by a force-field? Why was Simon able to go through it? Why this was happening to her partner? Why not _anyone_ else? But…

"She said 'not again'." Weiss remembered. "Has this happened before?" Simon sighed at her, and then placed his hand palm up on Ruby's lap.

"Promise me you won't tell your team, for Ruby's sake." He looked her in the eyes.

"I promise." Weiss placed her hand in Simon's and he gripped it tightly, before pulling away.

"The night before she met me she had a nightmare." He said. Weiss thought back to that night, Ruby had given her the same look as she did today. "In the dream, Yang died. Afterwards you and Blake betrayed her." Weiss looked at him, why would she dream of something like that?

"Why didn't she tell us?" Weiss asked, but he shrugged.

"Maybe she was afraid of what you'd think." He said sadly. "I'm not sure. Today she must been hallucinating something similar."

A nurse entered the room and approached the bed.

"Ms. Goodwitch would like to see you." She said hurriedly before moving away.

"Let's go see what Ozpin said." Simon told the Heiress as he stood up.

He touched his forehead with two fingers before doing the same to Ruby as he left. Weiss noted the gesture before following closely behind him. When they exited the infirmary they met Goodwitch, Blake, Yang, Haeley, and team JNPR waiting for them.

"What'd he say?" Weiss said quickly, unable to wait for the answer. Goodwitch looked at the floor before turning to Simon.

"Ozpin denied your request." She said simply. "He says he doesn't want to do anything until he has more details."

"I don't have time for this…" Simon whispered so only Weiss could hear him.

"I'm sorry?" Goodwitch asked, uncertain of what he said.

"I understand." Simon said to her as he clenched his fists.

"I'm glad you do, but perhaps if you spoke with him you might change his mind." She replied as she began walking away.

After she rounded the corner Simon looked at Haeley, who nodded before running in the opposite direction. He turned to say something to Weiss before Yang interrupted.

"What did you do to my sister?!" She stepped towards him but halted when Simon glared at her, a flame in his eyes that drowned hers.

"Accuse me of hurting her again, and I'll break your arm." He said angrily.

The group stood shocked at his words. He waited for any replies before approaching Weiss.

"Promise me…" He whispered in her ear. "Promise me you won't let them move her from that bed."

"But what if she-"

"Please…" The sincerity in his voice surprised her. She nodded, and he pulled away. He put his hand, palm up, in front of her. Hesitantly she placed her own hand on top of his, and he squeezed it reassuringly.

"But what if something serious happens?" She asked. A second later Haeley turned the corner holding Simon's sword.

"One day." He said as he strapped his sword to his back. "Give me one day to fix this."

"I promise. One day." Weiss confirmed. Simon nodded at her before leaving the group behind.

"Let's hope he doesn't get himself killed." Haeley said optimistically. "Don't worry though; he'll make sure Ruby gets better, even if he _does_ die in this process." She smiled at the group before she went off on her own.

Weiss quickly reentered the infirmary, before her team could ask her any questions, and sat by Ruby's side.

"Please, wake up."

* * *

"Ow…" Ruby sat up, the landing didn't hurt as much as it should've but it still felt awful.

She looked around and noticed she was in what seemed like an abandoned city. The walls of the buildings had crumbled and while most still stood around three stories tall they were in very poor condition.

Ruby heard something moving behind her and turned to see… Grimm?

They resembled beowolves but had shining white fur and glowing blue eyes. She realized she didn't have any weapons on her, she couldn't fight them.

She stood and turned but her foot got caught on a fallen lamp post and she tripped. Ruby flipped over and saw one of the creatures attempt to swing at her… until someone got in the way.

They stood over her and used a force-field to hold off the Grimm. They clapped their hands and sent out a dark blue shockwave that incinerated the creatures.

The savior turned to Ruby and she saw that it was a girl. She had long dark gray hair with blue highlights. Ruby noticed a pair of cat ears on her head, which poked through the brim of her top hat. She wore a gray and blue stripped dress skirt and stockings; which matched the stripes of the long tail that swished back and forth behind her.

"Welcome to wonderland.~" She said in a sing-song voice. "Are you lacking direction I wonder?" She removed the top hat and preformed an exaggerated bow. "Chesire Cat can take you to the exit. If you want."

"Um…" Ruby said awkwardly. The cat-girl placed the top hat back on her head and sighed.

"No? Don't get the reference?" She said disappointedly. Ruby shook her head. "I guess you guys don't have that story in Remnant huh."

"What story?" Ruby asked as she stood up.

"Forget it, the jokes over." She sighed. "Anyway, the name's Chase." She held out her hand and Ruby grabbed it.

"Ruby. What was with that introduction?" Ruby questioned.

"My favorite character from my favorite fairy tale." She said. "I even changed the way I look to make that stupid joke."

"By the way, where are we?" Ruby asked, looking around.

"The Farlands, this is the place souls go when they don't have a vessel." She explained. "It's like purgatory."

"I'm dead?!" Ruby shouted.

"What? No, you are a special case." Chase said quickly. "Follow me, I'll explain."

"You know the rules Chesire…" A voice came from the top of one of the buildings and Chase audibly groaned when she heard it. "You aren't supposed to save the Nomads."

Ruby looked towards the voice and saw a man in knight armor carrying a large great-axe.

"And what are you going to do about it I wonder?" Chase called out to him.

"Well if you aren't going to kill her, I will." He said gesturing to his weapon.

"You can try, but she's under the protection of the Black Fire. Even something as big as your ego can't get through its barrier." She replied sarcastically.

"Oh really?" He said, he gripped his axe with both hands and it became surrounded in white flame.

"Wow Kyle. You couldn't stand losing to me all the time so you went to the White Knight for help. You have officially lost all of my respect." She called to him.

"That doesn't matter to me. Now, I'm far stronger; and that pathetic barrier of yours is nothing compared to this power." He said as he leaped from the building and swung his axe at Ruby.

Before the weapon reached her it stopped and began emitting black rings, which surrounded her body.

"What…" Ruby said in shock.

However she noticed cracks beginning to form in the barrier. She tried to think of some way to strengthen it. She looked to Chase, who simply smiled and touched two fingers to her forehead.

Ruby felt her body suddenly gain an immense amount of energy. She felt amazing! She wondered if she could…

Ruby held out her hand and poured her aura outwards. She watched the crack in the barrier seal, before the knight was blasted into the building behind him.

"How did I?" Ruby looked at her hand in wonder.

"Here…" Chase approached her and gave her what looked like a mirror.

Ruby looked into it, but she didn't see herself. In the mirror was a beautiful woman. Her long black hair created a brilliant contrast as it changed to a rose red at the ends.

Something else she noticed; on her forehead, off center to the right, was a black tattoo of Simon's flower.

"What?" Ruby said again. The woman in the mirror's lips moved in sync with hers.

"I'll explain in a bit." Chase said as she approached Kyle.

"How..?" He grunted.

"You forgot that the Knight's power is only stronger when protecting someone else." Chase explained with a smile. "Come on Rubes."

"Wait…" Ruby said once again, still confused. "How do you-"

"I'll explain when we get away from egotistic over there." She replied as she walked away.

Ruby quickly followed after Chase, eager to know just what was going on.

* * *

"So he left?" Ozpin asked as he looked out the window of his office.

"Almost immediately." Goodwitch affirmed.

"I expected at least that much from him." He replied, taking a sip from his mug.

"So you denied his request, knowing he'd go anyway?"

"Indeed. He may be royalty, but he won't break a promise. At least that's what I've heard." Ozpin returned to his desk and handed a letter to Glynda. "This appeared on my desk today, and as unbelievable as it sounds, so far it holds true."

"Age 21, orphan, last name unknown, highly skilled in almost all forms of combat?" She said in disbelief, turning the paper over several times. "Who sent this?"

Ozpin shrugged.

"No name, no date, no address, no one has entered my office in the last twenty-four hours other than the two of us." He pointed at a camera hanging from the ceiling. "On video, it's as if it teleported into the room; one second there's nothing, the next? _This_."

* * *

"Take a left." Chase said from behind Ruby.

"Shouldn't you be in _front_ of me, because you're leading the way?" Ruby said as she turned left.

"And miss the great view of your ass?" Chase asked. Ruby turned to face her, face as red as the scarf she was wearing.

For some reason she was wearing similar clothes to the ones she wore before last year's tournament; ones which hugged her now _very_ mature figure tightly.

"Can you not?!" Ruby yelled. Chase gave her a lecherous grin. "Can you explain what's going on now?"

"Fine." Chase said, she took the lead and spanked Ruby as she passed.

"HEY!" Ruby yelled at her.

"I'm not going to go into the 'Anatomy of the Soul' and such; Ashen is probably a better person to ask about that. However, you are here because you were in danger, so you were removed from your body until the problem is fixed." She said as she played with a deck of cards.

"Okay, but how was I able to do what I did, why do I look like this, and why do I have Simon's symbol on my forehead?" Ruby said, still utterly confused.

"So you _do_ know him; Simon you said? The first two questions you can ask Ashen about. As for the tattoo…" They found the exit to the city and entered a large plain. Chase pointed to one of the mountains in the distance. "That is where we are going."

"That's a long way." Ruby said, questioning the distance they were supposed to travel.

"You'll find that time in the Farlands is _all_ fucked up." Chase told her. When Ruby put on a confused expression and Chase pointed to the sun. "How long have you been here? The sun still hasn't set; and it may not set for another two years. Who knows?"

"This doesn't make sense." Ruby complained.

"It's the Farlands; it's not supposed to." Chase said with a smile as she walked towards the mountains. "Anyway that tattoo is a sign that you are protected by the Black Fire; a gift usually given only to those who swear to serve it."

"That's another thing;" Ruby said. "The Black Fire? White Knight? What are you talking about?"

"They are like factions; covenants if you will. There are thousands of them, each gives you several benefits. However, the White Knight has the most members by far; a couple hundred-thousand I believe." Chase explained. "The White Knight is the self-proclaimed enemy of the Black Fire; and also claims that they alone will remove the Fire from the Farlands."

"How many members does the Black Fire have?" Ruby asked curious about why they haven't done anything.

"Three." Chase said. When she saw the surprised look on Ruby's face she turned towards her and preformed another exaggerated bow. "Chase the Chesire, Rook of the Black Fire; at your service and here for your protection."

"If there are only three of you, versus a few hundred-thousand of them; how have they not beaten you yet?" Ruby asked.

"Well for starters, _we_ don't seek out fights with the other factions; unlike some people you've met today. Also…" Chase leaned back and began to float, an instant later she vanished.

"Um Chase?" Ruby let out a yelp when she felt two hands reach under her arms and grab her breasts. "KNOCK IT OFF!"

"Ooo, I _love_ it when you're feisty." Chase commented as she let go.

Ruby turned to face the cat with a beet red face.

"The cat with nearly limitless power, a dragon from the last age, and the Queen of Winter." She counted on her fingers. "The three servants of the Black Fire."

"Limitless power?" Ruby questioned, face still red.

"It's just a title." Chase explained. "As cool as that sounds though, I'm the weakest of the three."

"But why do the Knights want you gone so badly?" Ruby asked as they started walking again. She realized now the she couldn't drop her guard around this perverted cat.

"The White Knight and Black Fire are devoted to the two 'Dragonriders' as they were commonly referred to; the Dragonriders were enemies for as long as they lived. I guess the Knights decided we should pick up where they left off." She shrugged as she continued playing with her deck of cards.

"That's dumb, do the Dragonriders know about the fighting?" Ruby asked as she stepped over the bones of some unknown animal.

"Ours does yes; the other one doesn't even know the Knights exist." Chase said satisfyingly. "Serves 'em right really."

"Why doesn't he know about them?" Ruby now realized that this wasn't just a purgatory; it was an entirely new world that no one but the people who lived here knew about.

"Because unlike us; the Knights were created pretty much out of spite. Somebody didn't like us and started a movement against us. They decided to take after the Dragonrider to justify their hate for us." Chase said. "The Black Fire however, was created by the Dragonrider himself; and its flame is fueled by his soul."

"I didn't think this much could be happening in purgatory." Ruby joked.

"The Farlands is three times the size of your own world. Who knows what's happening right around the corner." Chase stopped and smiled at her. "We're here."

Ruby looked up and saw the mountain before her. What surprised her most was how it was able to sneak up on her. At the base of the mountain apple trees rose from the ground, and she could hear running water on the other side of them.

"The entrance to the Fire is just on the other side of the trees." Chase said happily walking towards them. "Oh, and don't even think about eating the apples. They aren't as healthy as they are in your world."

* * *

Simon brushed past another tree, the claw marks told him he was on the right path.

The nearby Grimm could sense his anger and rushed his position; only to find their demise.

He entered a small clearing, and it was there that the tracks stopped.

"Fuck me." Simon said as he realized that he'd been lead into a trap. All around him beowolves entered the clearing, most of them wore armor.

He turned and watched as the creature Ruby described lowered itself from the trees; its snake like tail was at least five times longer than its body and was wrapped around the trunk of the tree it was descending from.

The Grimm around it seemed restless, as if waiting on the creature's command, but it only stared at him.

"Well?" Simon stepped forward raising his arms out away from his body, taunting the beasts. "What is it?"

* * *

"Watch your step." Chase said as she stepped through a creek that passed in front of an overhang in the cliff base.

Ruby carefully stepped through it before continuing to the back of the alcove with Chase. They stopped in front of a large stone double-door. Simon's flower was in the middle surrounded by thorn-like structures.

"Ready?" Chase looked to her companion, who stood in awe at the large doorway.

"Why is the doorway so big?" Ruby asked looking up at it. It stood at about five times her height. She looked at Chase, but she only shrugged.

"You'll see…" She answered happily. Chase approached the door and pushed on it, a much smaller doorway just large enough for Ruby to enter opened instead of the large stone door.

Ruby hesitantly entered after Chase, who slammed the door shut once they were both inside. Leaving them in darkness.

"Ooo, it's darker than I remember; give me a moment." Ruby heard Chase's footsteps before a fire erupted on her left. "There we go, now it should…"

The fire rested in a stone sconce that was built into the wall. One by one similar fires lit up on either side of the hallway they were in, and illuminated an archway at the end.

"After you." Chase said gesturing down the corridor. Ruby protectively covered her rear, coaxing a laugh from the cat. "No, no. All serious now, I won't tease you anymore. Go on ahead."

Ruby hesitantly walked down the corridor, after a few seconds she passed under the archway and turned left into a large room.

In the middle of the room was an altar, a black flower in full bloom rested on top of it. A small black flame sat in the middle, protectively covered by the flower's petals, but easily seen.

On her left Ruby noticed a figure resting up against the wall, upon further inspection she saw that it was a woman. Her clothes were white and had red accents; a small crown sat on top of her glowing white hair. Her eyes were closed but something about her gave off an air of royalty.

To her right Ruby saw a large alcove, but even though she tried her hardest, her eyes could not pierce its darkness; although she could her large, heavy breaths emitting from the shadows.

What she saw last however, truly surprised her. On the other side of the room, opposite of her, was a large black crystal nearly twice her size. But the surprising part was what was inside of it; she could see a figure, obviously human. Unfortunately, the darkness of the crystal blocked out any would be details.

"It's about time." The white-clad figure spoke, making the reaper jump slightly at the sudden noise. The woman's eyes were open now, and though her white locks covered her left eye, her right eye's icy shade of blue was enough to make Ruby feel unwelcome.

"Come now, _White_. You could at least give the young one your name, _before_ you start being rude to her." A deep, aged voice came from the alcove to Ruby's right. It seemed much more welcoming but a lot less… _human._

"My irritation is not directed towards her, _Black._ But towards that failure of a Master that we've been put under." She said into the darkness. "He could have at least given us a warning before sending her here. That way we could have had her dropped somewhere safe instead of letting her fall into Knight territory!"

"Though that is true, I am certain he is trying his best." Black replied. "Besides, it seems he doesn't want us to get involved unless absolutely necessary; considering the position he's in at the moment."

"Um…" Ruby tried to comprehend exactly what was going on, and failed.

"Terribly sorry." White said as she stood up. "Where are my manners-"

"Nowhere nearby I'm sure." White glared into the alcove at the snark comment.

"I could go look for them if you want." Chase joined in, throwing her thumb at the door.

"Every day I regret allowing him to take you two under his wing." White said as she massaged her temple. "I am the Queen of Winter, Queen of the Black Fire; and current target of these two dolts' torture."

"Ruby Rose, nice to meet you." Ruby answered, more than slightly amused. "Do you have a name? Queen of Winter is a bit of a mouthful."

"Winter is fine." She answered with a smile. "I'm not allowed to use my real name anymore."

"Why not?" Ruby asked. She didn't answer; she just stared at the floor sadly.

"I suppose I should introduce myself as well." Black said, interrupting the conversation. Ruby heard several loud metal clangs before a large grey head erupted from the shadows.

"Surprised?" Chase said moving to stand next to her. "You shouldn't be, I told you already didn't I? The cat with nearly limitless power, the Queen of Winter, and…"

"My name is Ashen, a Dragon from the Last Age, and Bishop to the Black Fire. Hello young one." He said as he stepped from the alcove.

Ruby couldn't believe her eyes… A _Dragon?_ She'd always dream of finding one as a kid but, this wasn't a dream was it? She hoped not. She could feel each step from his four heavy legs as he moved from the shadows.

"Please tell me this isn't a dream and that dragons are real." Ruby pleaded excitedly.

"Well…" He replied. "If this isn't a dream, dragons _did_ exist; they went extinct long before the first Kingdoms were created."

He moved forward and laid down next to the altar, he crossed one of his front legs over the other and stared intently toward her. The dark grey skin of his underside was covered in scars more prominent than those found on the rest of his body. His tail curled around him and Ruby saw a spade-like shape at the end, which showed Simon's flower.

"Come closer young one, please." He said moving his head closer to her. Ruby hesitantly stepped forward and stood in front of him. "You have… I sincerely apologize for being disrespectful, _little_ one."

"What happened to 'Young one'?" Ruby asked sarcastically.

"I was not aware of your age at the time, I know now that you are far older than me." He said plainly.

"But I'm almost sixteen, how-"

"Your body may be just a child, but your _soul_ is far older." Ashen answered. "Do they not teach you this on Remnant?"

"I don't know what you mean." Ruby replied.

"Hmm…" He used a claw to carve a symbol into the floor and pressed into it. A second later, electricity arced from his hand and surrounded Ruby, forcing the ground behind her upward; into a makeshift chair.

"Get comfortable." He said beckoning to the chair. "This will take some time."

"How did you do that?" Ruby said pointing to the object that was formed behind her.

"This will take some time." Ashen repeated. "Besides, if there's anything our current Master needs right now, it's plenty of time."


End file.
